Economy

Christy Clark’s “sustained development”

Feb 1, 2011
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A news release from the Christy Clark camp puts its focus on energy policy in BC. While the press release reads as slickly as its candidate, let’s pause to deconstruct its key messages: “British Columbia is in an enviable energy position and we need to take full advantage of the resources we have in the… View Article

Over a decade, average BC wages fall below Canadian average

Jan 21, 2011
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Every week the government publication BC Stats Infoline publishes a summary of usually pretty interesting things going on in British Columbia.  They have a nice archive of these publications and it can be helpful to go back and look at earlier publications. I looked at January 2001, the last year of the NDP government, and… View Article

The problems with the textbook analysis of minimum wages

Jan 20, 2011
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I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the sorry state of the BC minimum wage, stuck at $8 after nine years two months and still counting. Yes, it will likely increase very soon, now that almost all leadership candidates on both sides have expressed support for higher minimum wages, but one has got to ask… View Article

BC’s $8 minimum wage sets another record (low)

Jan 18, 2011
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Did you know that BC, the home of the lowest minimum wage in Canada, just recently became the province with the longest minimum wage freeze in recent history? That is to say, since at least the mid-1960s when HRSDC data starts. BC’s minimum wage has now been stuck at $8 for nine years two months… View Article

ILO points to low union density and low minimum wages as causes of economic collapse

Jan 8, 2011
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One more major international organization has published a report commenting on the damage done by growing inequality in society.  In December the International Labour Organization (ILO) published its second Global Wage Report.  The first such report examined trends in global wages in good times.  This one examines what happened in the economic collapse. Looking at… View Article

Olympics – ‘Rousing Financial Success’?

Dec 19, 2010
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Though not a true believer myself, I can think of a number of positive impacts from the 2010 Olympics. There was, without question, a community spirit seldom if ever seen in Vancouver. There was a renewed commitment to excellence in sport. However, one thing I couldn’t imagine anyone suggesting is that it was a “rousing… View Article

How fossils fuel campaigns

Dec 15, 2010
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Kevin Falcon’s tour of northeast BC, heart of the province’s oil and gas industry, and his dissin’ of BC’s (modest but important) climate measures was one of those moments when one realizes that things could actually get a lot worse in BC politics. Falcon cut his cabinet teeth as minister for deregulation, and is positioning… View Article

Global Pathology

Dec 10, 2010
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[Note: I will be giving a presentation on this subject this Sunday, December 12th, from 12:30 to 1:30 at the Unitarian Church (Hewett Hall), 49th and Oak, Vancouver] ———- Johann Goethe wrote:  “Viewed from the height of reason, all life looks like some malignant disease and the world like a madhouse.” His view may seem… View Article