My letter in the Toronto Star, May 14

By - May 21, 2019
Background to this letter: The Conservative government in Ontario opposes the federal carbon tax, claiming it is ineffective.  Premier Doug Ford is taking the matter to the courts.  As well, Ford has talked about increasing speed limits on Ontario highways.  My letter was joining some dots. Re He who tweets by gas prices, dies by gas prices,…

Econ 101 Pop Quiz

By - April 29, 2019
It seems the economic policy known as ‘supply-side’ has made a comeback in the U.S. under Donald Trump.  The underlying idea was, I understand, proposed by Arthur Laffer in the 1970s and formed the basis of Ronald Reagan’s approach in his presidency.  The claim is that if taxes are reduced, society as a whole will benefit becaus…

What consumers want

By - April 22, 2019
Harry Shannon CBC News Item 21 April 2019'Is that even legal?' Companies may be sharing new credit or debit card information without you knowing. … Information about the sharing of this kind of information with third party companies is often buried in the fine print of bank and credit card agreements… There…

How I lost three hours to Summer Time

By - April 7, 2019
Harry Shannon Spring forward, Fall back; so goes the saying.  Which means you ‘lose’ one hour when the clocks go forward in Spring. Yet I managed to lose three!  I was in Canada for the first one on 10 March.  North America extended the summer time period some years ago.  The U.S. Congress were pretending they were takin…

How to be a philanthropist: An 11-step guide

By - March 26, 2019
Harry Shannon Pay your workers starvation wages, preferably in low income countriesIgnore labour laws and health and safety hazardsMake obscene amounts of moneyBefriend powerful politicians and donate to their partiesContinually deny any wrongdoing or dreadful labour practicesTransfer your money to tax havensGive a tiny fraction of the taxes s…

Resiliency – My satirical letter in the Toronto Star

By - March 22, 2019
. Some background: The Ontario government has announced that it will increase the average class size for high schools. It's a cost-saving measure that many fear will lead to poorer education for children. But the Minister of Education claimed that it's going to increase the resiliency of the students, so it's a good policy. Here's my lette…

Choosing your words

By - March 11, 2019
Andrew Scheer, the leader of Canada's Conservative party, needs to be more careful. He attacked Justin Trudeau over what Trudeau said in response to questions about the SNC-Lavalin affair. Now I believe that companies should not get away with corruption, so I think the prosecution should go ahead. But that's not my point. Reading from a pr…