The progressive economics community, in Canada and around the world, lost a wonderful colleague, comrade and friend with the passing of John Loxley on July 28, 2020. Here I would like to share some personal reflections on John’s impact on my life as a progressive economist, and the very rich legacy he has left our shared community. (I also commend [...]
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Working at SCU back in 2007-8 was a quiet gig. I had plenty of time to mull over things. I would cycle to work in the morning and have my day’s work mostly done by smoko. In the …
This food timeline started as a way to explore the revolution in Australian food that has occurred during the baby-boomers’ lifetime, but has since expanded to include more about the previous decades (and century) as well. Also included are overseas events and trends that had an impact here. The entries are brief, but there are lots of links if you want more information.
In July 2020, the convenience store chain opened an 8sqm store on the 27th floor of a high-rise office building in Brisbane. The 7-Eleven mini store is cashless and cardless and only available to employees within the building. The concept is based on a trial store in 7-Eleven’s own headquarters in Melbourne. The Brisbane building […]
The MMT analysis shows that inflation is controlled by a buffer stock. That can either be an buffer stock of unemployed people, or a buffer stock of employed people. Here we explain why an employed buffer stock, the Job Guarantee, is superior.
There is a recent written attack on libraries that I find odd and somewhat dangerous– libraries overlap too much with new-book bookstores. At first I thought it was trolling, but I now believe it is sincere. More worrisome is that … Continue reading
DWCA Publishing is back in action, following some unfortunate COVID-19 delays, with Data Extract #246 shipping next week. This latest release kicks off the celebrations for the publication’s 40th anniversary. It was November 1980 when a two-page newsletter was sent to Australian fans, leading with the shocking headline “Tom Baker Quits!”. Not even called Data Extract yet, headlined instead simply as the Australasian Doctor Who Newsletter, none could have known it would still be going strong four decades later. In fact, creator Dallas Jones started the premier editorial with the words: “This will be my first and probably last editorial”.… Continue reading
And They’re Back! Shut down at the height of the pandemic in the UK, Big Finish have returned to shipping collector’s edition CDs and box sets to clear the backlog of orders. Big Finish warehouse staff returned to work on June 8 – with the company taking steps to protect workers including providing safety equipment and a regular schedule of deep cleaning. Big Finish company chairman Jason Haigh-Ellery thanked customers for their patience. “Our listeners have been extremely patient over the past three months, while our warehouse staff have been furloughed, and as we operated a digital-first release schedule,” he… Continue reading
Price competition breaks peer reviewed mainstream agent model
Hierarchical structure of banking as described by Modern Money Theory
Kudos to the Australian contingent getting this sketch on The Weekly. Can’t see the BBC doing something like this - either about MMT or a decent comedy show.
On July 21, the Alternative Federal Budget Recovery Plan was released. The document aims to provide public policy direction to Canada’s federal government, in light of the current COVID-19 pandemic. I was author of the Recovery Plan’s chapter on affordable housing and homelessness, which can be accessed here.
Ever since I worked at the Guardian’s New Media Lab in the Nineties and it was my actual job, I’ve been thinking about how news media is produced. A lot of my thinking was originally driven by just extrapolating out where things were headed. The increasingly high frequency of the news-cycle, for instance, was so […]
An overview of the Modern Money Theory viewpoint
And while we’re on the subject of toys and childhoods, here’s a shameless plug for my new feature documentary BATMAN AND ME. The movie presents the experience of Batman collector Darren Maxwell, who begins his hobby in 1989 and winds up addicted to buying Batman merchandise. It’s currently streaming as a part of the Melbourne […]
Why there is no need to raise taxes just because more government bonds have been issued
Modern Monetary Theory or MMT has crept in from the academic margins to become an influential doctrine in progressive policy circles in the United States. Both Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders drew on the ideas of MMT to shape their ambitious public spending platforms. MMT has been cited as one way to fund a Green New Deal, in combination with [...]
Overview of a UK Job Guarantee