Constraints on Democracy: Capital Mobility and Political Inequality
Regardless of one’s governing model, control over interjurisdictional capital flows is a necessary condition for genuinely democratic policy-making.
Regardless of one’s governing model, control over interjurisdictional capital flows is a necessary condition for genuinely democratic policy-making.
Volatile, short term and footloose private capital is supplanting stable, long-term public financing which is crucial for long-term economic and social development, and for climate investments.
Progressives should consider creating and developing their own “zones” for building democratic power, putting into practice social democratic values. Through these islands of social democracy, the diffusion of democratic power could be incubated and seeded to propagate widely as neoliberal systems wither and fail.
Canadians are right to be concerned about corporate control of data, algorithmically worsening inequality, and the role of tech companies in disempowering workers.
For decades, social democrats have championed industrial policy, prioritizing the governance of the economy and market regulation as a way to build a more just and democratic society.
Two important books from Lorimer Press highlight the insidious impact of neoliberalism on Canada’s political, social, and economic landscape, detailing its roots, devastating results, and the urgent need for democratic renewal and progressive reform.
The Broadbent Institute’s Executive Director Jen Hassum explains how Ed Broadbent’s vision of the ‘Good Society’ offers a roadmap for building a more equal, inclusive and progressive Canada.
Regulatory economist and consultant Edgardo Sepulveda joins the Perspectives Journal Podcast to explain what it will take to bring power back into the public interest in Alberta.
Alex Himelfarb argues that neoliberalism – or “capitalism with the gloves off” – has become embedded in the fabric of Canadian government and society, and has not yet died off despite its reckoning.