Economic Thought – The Progressive Economics Forum

Theory and homelessness

September 6, 2022 Nick Falvo One comment

I’m writing an open access e-textbook on homelessness. Chapter 2, focused on theory, has just been published. The full chapter is available here: https://nickfalvo.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Falvo-Chapter-2-Theory-and-homelessness-19aug2022.pdf A ‘top 10’ overview of the chapter can be found here: https://nickfalvo.ca/theory-and-homelessness%ef%bf%bc/ A French version of the ‘top 10’ overview can be found here: https://nickfalvo.ca/theorie-et-itinerance/ All material related to the book is free of charge and […]

What causes homelessness?

April 11, 2022 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

I’m writing an open access e-textbook on homelessness. Each chapter will be uploaded to my website as it becomes available. I’ve just finished Chapter 1 titled “What causes homelessness?” A ‘top 10’ overview of Chapter 1 is available here (in English): https://nickfalvo.ca/what-causes-homelessness/ An ‘top 10’ overview in French is available here: https://nickfalvo.ca/quest-ce-qui-cause-litinerance/ The full chapter is available here (English only): https://nickfalvo.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Falvo-Chapter-1-What-causes-homelessness-4apr2022.pdf

The Minister of Housing’s Mandate Letter

January 10, 2022 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

On 16 December 2021, mandate letters for Canada’s federal ministers were made public. The letter for Canada’s Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion contains an important set of marching orders. I break it down in this ‘top 10’ blog post: https://nickfalvo.ca/the-minister-of-housings-mandate-letter/

the federal Conservatives’ housing platform

August 23, 2021 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

With a federal election taking place in Canada on September 20, I’ve written an 800-word overview of the Conservatives’ housing platform. It’s available here: https://nickfalvo.ca/ten-things-to-know-about-the-federal-conservatives-housing-platform

the recession’s likely long-term impact on homelessness

December 10, 2020 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

I’ve just written a report for Employment and Social Development Canada on the current recession’s likely long-term impact on homelessness in Canada. An overview of the report can be found here.

Lifting singles out of poverty in canada

December 3, 2020 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

I’ve written a report for the Institute for Research on Public Policy about social assistance—specifically, about social assistance for employable single adults without dependants. A ‘top 10’ overview of the report can be found here.

Social assistance: Do higher benefit levels lead to higher caseloads?

October 11, 2020 Nick Falvo One comment

As part of my PhD thesis, I did some statistical analysis in which I asked the question: “Do higher social assistance benefit levels lead to higher caseloads?” I have recently updated the data and had it published in a journal. Here’s a short summary of the journal article’s main findings.

Trudeau’s proposed speculation tax

September 25, 2019 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

I’ve written a blog post about the Trudeau Liberals’ recently-proposed speculation tax on residential real estate owned by non-resident, non-Canadians. The full blog post can be accessed here.

Low taxes are nothing to brag about

April 11, 2019 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

I’ve written an opinion piece that appears in today’s Regina Leader-Post. The piece argues that the Saskatchewan government shouldn’t brag about the province’s low-tax climate (which it recently did). Rather, I argue that taxes serve important functions. The link to the opinion piece is here.

Value Creation vs Value Extraction in Today’s Economy

July 31, 2018 Andrew Jackson Leave a comment

Book Review Mariana Mazzucato. The Value of Everything: Making and Taking in the Global Economy. Allen Lane. 2018. The playwright Oscar Wilde quipped that a cynic is a person who “knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.” As Mariana Mazzucato argues in her important and stimulating new book, “The Value of Everything,” that adage could be applied […]

The Contemporary Relevance of Karl Polanyi

April 13, 2018 Mel Watkins One comment

The political economist Karl Polanyi, author of the 1944 volume The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time, is arguably better known today than during his lifetime. The time has come for a major biography of Polanyi, Karl Polanyi: A Life on the Left by Gareth Dale. It is thoroughly excellent and provides the occasion to ponder […]

A Tale of Two Books

March 28, 2018 Mel Watkins Leave a comment

Just published is Volume I of an exhaustive – occasionally exhausting – biography of Paul Samuelson. It’s titled Founder of Modern Economics: Paul A Samuelson Vol I: Becoming Samuelson, 1915-1948 and authored by Roger E Backhouse. The two books of my blog title are Foundations of Economic Analysis, published in 1947, a revision of Samuelson’s Harvard doctoral dissertation, in which he unearthed the mathematical scaffolding […]

Ten proposals from the 2018 Alternative Federal Budget

February 24, 2018 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

I’ve written a blog post about this year’s Alternative Federal Budget (AFB). Points raised in the blog post include the following: -This year’s AFB would create 470,000 (full-time equivalent) jobs in its first year alone. By year 2 of the plan, 600,000 new (full-time equivalent) jobs will exist. -This year’s AFB will also bring in universal pharmacare, address involuntary part-time […]

Panel discussion at federal NDP policy convention

February 18, 2018 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

Yesterday I spoke on a panel discussion on economic inequality, along with Andrew Jackson and Armine Yalnizyan. We were guests at the federal NDP’s policy convention in Ottawa. The panel was moderated by Guy Caron. Topics covered included the minimum wage, basic income, affordable housing, the future of jobs, gender budgeting, poverty among seniors, Canadian fiscal policy in historical perspective, […]

Stephen Clarkson: An Introduction to a special blog series

October 6, 2017 Marjorie Griffin Cohen Leave a comment

Stephen Clarkson: Political Economist with a Global Vision (1937 – 2016) Marjorie Griffin Cohen and Daniel Drache Stephen Clarkson died early in 2016 in Freiburg, Germany and Canada lost someone very special. Stephen was a Professor in Political Science at the University of Toronto and engaged in teaching, research and writing until his death. He has contributed, in an extraordinary […]

Ten Things to Know About Social Assistance in Alberta

July 25, 2017 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

I’ve just written a blog post about social assistance in Alberta. Points raised in the post include the following: -It’s very difficult to quality for social assistance in Alberta (this is also the case in all other provinces and territories). Reasons why are discussed in this previous blog post of mine. -In the 1990s, there were changes to the rules […]

Fiscal situation of Canada’s ‘oil rich’ provinces

June 19, 2017 Nick Falvo One comment

I’ve just written a blog post about the fiscal situation of Canada’s ‘oil rich’ provinces (i.e., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador). It consists of a summary of key points raised at a PEF-sponsored panel at this year’s Annual Conference of the Canadian Economics Association. Points raised in the blog post include the following: -The price of oil is impossible […]

Ten things to know about social assistance in Canada

May 9, 2017 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

I’ve just written a blog post about social assistance in Canada. Points raised in the blog post include the following: -Social assistance has two contradictory objectives: 1) to give people enough money to live on; and 2) to not give people enough money to live on. -Very few immigrants receive social assistance (relative to the general population). -Several Canadian provinces […]

The introduction and evolution of child benefits in Canada

April 30, 2017 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

Allan Moscovitch and I have co-authored a blog post that looks at the history of child benefits in Canada. Points made in the blog post include the following: -Child benefits can reduce both poverty and homelessness. -When child benefits began in Canada after World War II, one major motivating factor for the federal government was to avoid recession. Another was […]

A Response to the 2017 Saskatchewan Budget

April 23, 2017 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

I have an opinion piece on Saskatchewan’s recent budget in the Regina Leader-Post. Points raised in the opinion piece include the following: -Reductions in personal and corporate income taxes help the rich more than the poor (and this budget cut both personal and corporate income taxes). -Increases in sales tax hurt the poor more than the rich (and this budget […]

The Alternative Federal Budget 2017

March 20, 2017 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

This year’s Alternative Federal Budget (AFB) was released on March 9. I was proud to be the primary author of its housing chapter (that chapter is available in English here and in French here). The first AFB exercise began in 1994, with the first AFB being published in 1995. That involved a joint effort between the Canadian Centre for Policy […]

The Federal Role in Poverty Reduction

February 8, 2017 Nick Falvo One comment

I’m co-author of a blog post titled “The Federal Role in Poverty Reduction.” Points raised in the blog post include the following: -Canada’s Minister of Families, Children and Social Development has been tasked to lead the development of a Canada Poverty Reduction Strategy. -Total public social spending in Canada (as a % of GDP) is well below the OECD average. […]

How Housing Policy Benefits from a Socioeconomic Perspective

December 14, 2016 Nick Falvo One comment

Over at the web site of the Calgary Homeless Foundation, I’ve written a blog post titled “How Housing Policy Benefits from a Socioeconomic Perspective.” Points raised in the blog post include the following: -Leaders in Canada’s non-profit housing sector should think beyond just housing, and think hard about the importance of economic and social factors that have an impact on […]

Economics for Everyone: Second Edition

June 25, 2015 Jim Stanford One comment

This week marks the official publication release of the second edition of Economics for Everyone: A Short Guide to the Economics of Capitalism.Â In this blog I explain my motivations in writing the book, and promoting critical economic literacy more generally; the commentary was originally published by Pluto Books (the international publisher).Â The book is released in Canada by the […]

Rethinking Economics Waterloo Conference, Feb 7

January 22, 2015 David Pringle 2 comments

Ali Kraushaar and Â Geoff Evamy Hill, co-founders of the Rethinking Economics Waterloo initiative, are organizing a conference to be held Feb 7. It looks good! Â See below. — We want to inform you about theÂ Rethinking Economics Waterloo ConferenceÂ happening atÂ St. Paul’s University College on Saturday, February 7. We invite you and all your members to be there, and hope we can […]

Louis-Philippe Rochon’s Top 10 Economic Predictions for 2015

January 11, 2015 Nick Falvo One comment

Louis-Philippe Rochon has written a provocative blog post for the CBC titled “Top 10 Economic Predictions for 2015.” The post is available here.

(Macro) Econ 101

December 16, 2014 David Pringle 3 comments

On December 2, Chris Ragan wrote a column for the Globe and Mail titled â€œAnother (Macro) Defense of Econ 101.â€Â The link to his column is available hereÂ . Â My brief replyÂ wasÂ published in the Globe and Mail on December 13. Â The full version is below: Professor Ragan defends conventional (macro) Econ 101 as a pedagogical tool for training studentsâ€™ minds to […]

Economics 101

October 26, 2014 Nick Falvo 6 comments

On October 21, Chris Ragan wrote a column for the Globe and Mail titled “In defence of Economics 101.”Â The link to his column is available here. On October 24, Marc Lavoie, Louis-Philippe Rochon and Mario Seccareccia replied to him.Â The link to their response is available here.

New Issue of Review of Keynesian Economics

July 28, 2014 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

A guest blog post from Louis-Philippe Rochon: Dear friends and colleagues, The new issue of the Review of Keynesian Economics (ROKE) is now out, and you can find it here. It features an interesting symposium on ‘Steve Keen and his critics’, and contains not only a paper by Steve Keen, but replies by Marc Lavoie, Tom Palley, and Brett Fiebiger. […]

PEF Events at This Year’s Annual Conference of the CEA

May 27, 2014 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

For the 15th consecutive year, the Progressive Economics Forum (PEF) will be sponsoring events at the Annual Conference of the Canadian Economics Association (which takes place this month in Vancouver).Â PEF events will take place this Friday and Saturday; details pertaining to all PEF events can be found at this link. Once again this year, I am the PEF Events […]

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