Last week I was guest of a foreign university in Abu-Dhabi, participating in a conference on urban-planning and development. Before accepting the invitation, I had misgivings about going. The United Arab Emirates are undemocratic, run by a monarchy made wealthy by the considerable oil reserves in their territory. Their foreign policy in Sudan is questionable,Continue reading “Some thoughts on visiting Abu-Dhabi”
Tag Archives: politics
Carney ignores his own advice, or how to fuel discontent
When one looks back, in a few months or years, and attempts to understand how Carney’s liberal government so utterly failed, the Air Canada strike will probably be part of the story. After slashing the carbon tax — against the well thought-through but manifestly vacuous arguments set out in his book — Carney is nowContinue reading “Carney ignores his own advice, or how to fuel discontent”
Selective outrage in Canada
The killing of any innocent person is a tragedy. It is not enough for the pepetrator to unilaterally decree the person’s guilt for the tragedy to disappear. Starvation and slaughter cannot be justified Thus, the Israeli government’s starvation and slaughter of Palestinian people has no justification, despite claims by Deputy Knesset speaker Nissim Vaturi: “ThereContinue reading “Selective outrage in Canada”
Mark Carney’s book: second-best Values
I have just finished reading Mark Carney’s dense and fascinating book, Values: an Economist’s Guide to Everything that Matters, 456 pages of well-argued, interesting, but not necessarily riveting prose. He first provides a well documented history of the connection between finance, currencies and value, where ‘value’ has two meanings: value (as in market value) andContinue reading “Mark Carney’s book: second-best Values”
Is there a housing supply crisis in Canada? Yes, but…
The dubious belief that there is no housing supply crisis During a chat this morning I was told that a local politician thinks there is no housing supply crisis in Montreal. According to them, there is no hurry to approve large housing developments such as the Hippodrome (or any other housing development that does notContinue reading “Is there a housing supply crisis in Canada? Yes, but…”
Trump is a mirror to our values
Donald Trump’s dismantling of administration, legal authority, and common decency are the logical end-game of a system of ideas, introduced in the 1940s by Hayek, Friedman and others of the early Mont-Pelerin society, that have become the common-sense baseline for most social interactions today: market-driven, property-oriented, and transactional. Trump is terrifying not because he isContinue reading “Trump is a mirror to our values”
We can’t have it all: on housing, health, immigration and taxes
I have just been to a fascinating presentation and panel discussion, organized by the Harris Centre and Statistics Canada, about immigration (with focus on Newfoundland & Labrador). From the panel discussion there emerged a few key points: BUT All panelists mentioned the crises in housing, construction and healthcare, and the need for more investment. TheyContinue reading “We can’t have it all: on housing, health, immigration and taxes”
Richard Shearmur 