Posts Tagged ‘economics’
[BLOG] Five Marginal Revolution links (@margrev)
- Marginal Revolution features a critical if friendly review of the new Emmanuel Todd book, Lineages of Modernity.
- Marginal Revolution considers the problems of excessive consumer activism, here.
- Marginal Revolution notes a new book looking at natural gas economics in Europe, here.
- Marginal Revolution notes new evidence that YouTube algorithms do not tend to radicalize users, here.
- Marginal Revolution notes the few countries where the average person was richer in 2009 than in 2019, notably Greece and Venezuela.
Written by Randy McDonald
December 30, 2019 at 3:30 pm
Posted in Assorted, Demographics, Economics, Politics, Popular Culture, Social Sciences
Tagged with blogs, book reviews, clash of ideologies, economics, geopolitics, globalization, greece, links, oil, social sciences, sociology, venezuela, youtube
[NEWS] Twenty news links
- NOW Toronto looks at the Pickering nuclear plant and its role in providing fuel for space travel.
- In some places like California, traffic is so bad that airlines actually play a role for high-end commuters. CBC reports.
- Goldfish released into the wild are a major issue for the environment in Québec, too. CTV News reports.
- China’s investments in Jamaica have good sides and bad sides. CBC reports.
- A potato museum in Peru might help solve world hunger. The Guardian reports.
- Is the Alberta-Saskatchewan alliance going to be a lasting one? Maclean’s considers.
- Is the fossil fuel industry collapsing? The Tyee makes the case.
- Should Japan and Europe co-finance a EUrasia trade initiative to rival China’s? Bloomberg argues.
- Should websites receive protection as historically significant? VICE reports.
- Food tourism in the Maritimes is a very good idea. Global News reports.
- Atlantic Canada lobster exports to China thrive as New England gets hit by the trade war. CBC reports.
- The Bloc Québécois experienced its revival by drawing on the same demographics as the provincial CAQ. Maclean’s reports.
- Population density is a factor that, in Canada, determines political issues, splitting urban and rural voters. The National Observer observes.
- US border policies aimed against migration from Mexico have been harming businesses on the border with Canada. The National Post reports.
- The warming of the ocean is changing the relationship of coastal communities with their seas. The Conversation looks.
- Archival research in the digital age differs from what occurred in previous eras. The Conversation explains.
- The Persian-language Wikipedia is an actively contested space. Open Democracy reports.
- Vox notes how the US labour shortage has been driven partly by workers quitting the labour force, here.
- Laurie Penny at WIRED has a stirring essay about hope, about the belief in some sort of future.
Written by Randy McDonald
December 23, 2019 at 11:35 pm
Posted in Assorted, Demographics, Economics, History, Politics, Popular Culture, Science, Social Sciences
Tagged with agriculture, alberta, atlantic canada, bloc québécois, borders, california, canada, caq, caribbean, china, democracy, Demographics, economics, environment, european union, federalism, fish, food, futurology, geopolitics, global warming, globalization, goldfish, history, hope, internet, iran, jamaica, japan, libraries, links, lobsters, mass transit, mexico, new england, news, north america, nuclear energy, oceans, oil, ontario, peru, philosophy, politics, potatoes, québec, saskatchewan, south america, space travel, technology, united states, wikipedia
[NEWS] Fourteen links
- By at least one metric, New Brunswick now lags economically behind a more dynamic Prince Edward Island. CBC reports.
- NOW Toronto looks at toxic fandoms. (“Stanning” sounds really creepy to me.)
- This CityLab article looks at how the particular characteristics of Japan, including its high population density, helps keep alive there retail chains that have failed in the US.
- MacLean’s looks at Kent Monkman, enjoying a new level of success with his diptych Mistikôsiwak at the Met in NYC.
- Can there be something that can be said for the idea of an Internet more strongly pillarized? Wired argues.
- I reject utterly the idea of meaningful similarities between Drake and Leonard Cohen. CBC did it.
- Toronto Life looks at the life of a Hamilton woman hurt badly by the cancellation of the basic income pilot, here.
- Inspired by the death of Gord Downie, Ontario now has the office of poet-laureate. CBC reports.
- Is Canada at risk, like Ireland, of experiencing two-tier health care? CBC considers.
- A French immigrant couple has brought the art of artisanal vinegar to ile d’Orléans. CBC reports.
- Shore erosion is complicating the lives of people along Lake Erie. CBC reports.
- MacLean’s notes how Via Rail making it difficult for people without credit cards to buy anything on their trains, hurting many.
- Michelle Legro notes at Gen that the 2010s is the decade where conspiracy culture became mainstream.
- This essay by Robert Greene at his blog talking about what history, and historians, can do in our era is thought-provoking.
Written by Randy McDonald
December 22, 2019 at 11:45 pm
Posted in Assorted, Canada, Economics, Politics, Popular Culture, Social Sciences, Toronto
Tagged with atlantic canada, canada, clash of ideologies, conspiracies, drake, economics, environment, first nations, food, france, glbt issues, gord downie, great lakes, history, ile d'orléans, internet, japan, kent monkman, lake erie, leonard cohen, links, metropolitan museum of art, new brunswick, new york city, news, ontario, poetry, popular culture, popular literature, popular music, prince edward island, public art, québec, rail, social networking, tragically hip, united states
[URBAN NOTE] Seven city links: Mississauga, Oshawa, Hamilton, London, Kingston, Montréal, Québec
- A historic bridge over the Credit River in Mississauga, happily, will not be demolished but instead will be repaired. CBC reports.
- Now that automobile production has stopped at the Oshawa General Motors plant, what will become of that city? CBC reports.
- The auditor-general of Ontario will investigate the claimed costs that led to the cancellation of the Hamilton LRT. Global News reports.
- A new bus route now connects London, Ontario, to Sarnia. Global News reports.
- Kingstonist reports that filming for the season finale of Star Trek: Discovery has just finished up in Kingston, at the pen.
- Joe Buongiorno writes at CBC Montreal at his, specifically Italian Canadian, experiences with the Jean Talon Market in Montréal.
- Le Devoir notes that many radio stations in Québec City are leading opposition to the proposed streetcar system.
Written by Randy McDonald
December 22, 2019 at 1:00 pm
Posted in Canada, Economics, History, Politics, Popular Culture, Social Sciences, Urban Note
Tagged with architecture, canada, cities, economics, hamilton, italian canadians, kingston, london canada, mass transit, mississauga, montréal, oshawa, politics, québec, québec city, sarnia, star trek, streetcars, Urban Note
[BLOG] Some Friday links
- Charlie Stross at Antipope shares an essay he recently presented on artificial intelligence and its challenges for us.
- P. Kerim Friedman writes at {anthro}dendum about the birth of the tea ceremony in the Taiwan of the 1970s.
- Anthropology net reports on a cave painting nearly 44 thousand years old in Indonesia depicting a hunting story.
- Architectuul looks at some temporary community gardens in London.
- Bad Astronomy reports on the weird history of asteroid Ryugu.
- The Buzz talks about the most popular titles borrowed from the Toronto Public Library in 2019.
- Caitlin Kelly talks at the Broadside Blog about her particular love of radio.
- Centauri Dreams talks about the role of amateur astronomers in searching for exoplanets, starting with LHS 1140 b.
- John Quiggin at Crooked Timber looks at what is behind the rhetoric of “virtue signalling”.
- Dangerous Minds shares concert performance from Nirvana filmed the night before the release of Nevermind.
- Bruce Dorminey notes new evidence that, even before the Chixculub impact, the late Cretaceous Earth was staggering under environmental pressures.
- Myron Strong at the Everyday Sociology Blog writes about how people of African descent in the US deal with the legacies of slavery in higher education.
- Far Outliers reports on the plans in 1945 for an invasion of Japan by the US.
- L.M. Sacasas at The Frailest Thing gathers together a collection of the author’s best writings there.
- Gizmodo notes the immensity of the supermassive black hole, some 40 billion solar masses, at the heart of galaxy Holm 15A 700 million light-years away.
- Russell Arben Fox at In Media Res writes about the issue of how Wichita is to organize its civic politics.
- io9 argues that the 2010s were a decade where the culture of the spoiler became key.
- The Island Review points readers to the podcast Mother’s Blood, Sister’s Songs, an exploration of the links between Ireland and Iceland.
- Joe. My. God. reports on the claim of the lawyer of the killer of a mob boss that the QAnon conspiracy inspired his actions. This strikes me as terribly dangerous.
- JSTOR Daily looks at a study examining scholarly retractions.
- Language Hat shares an amusing cartoon illustrating the relationships of the dialects of Arabic.
- Language Log lists ten top new words in the Japanese language.
- Lawyers, Guns and Money looks at the dissipation of American diplomacy by Trump.
- The LRB Blog looks at the many problems in Sparta, Greece, with accommodating refugees, for everyone concerned.
- Marginal Revolution links to a paper suggesting the decline of the one-child policy in China has diminished child trafficking, among other crimes.
- Sean Marshall, looking at transit in Brampton, argues that transit users need more protection from road traffic.
- Russell Darnley shares excerpts from essays he wrote about the involvement of Australia in the Vietnam War.
- Peter Watts talks about his recent visit to a con in Sofia, Bulgaria, and about the apocalypse, here.
- The NYR Daily looks at the corporatization of the funeral industry, here.
- Diane Duane writes, from her own personal history with Star Trek, about how one can be a writer who ends up writing for a media franchise.
- Jim Belshaw at Personal Reflections considers the job of tasting, and rating, different cuts of lamb.
- The Planetary Society Blog looks at a nondescript observatory in the Mojave desert of California that maps the asteroids of the solar system.
- Roads and Kingdoms interviews Eduardo Chavarin about, among other things, Tijuana.
- Drew Rowsome loves the SpongeBob musical.
- Peter Rukavina announces that Charlottetown has its first public fast charger for electric vehicles.
- The Russian Demographics Blog considers the impact of space medicine, here.
- The Signal reports on how the Library of Congress is making its internet archives more readily available, here.
- Starts With A Bang’s Ethan Siegel considers how the incredibly isolated galaxy MCG+01-02-015 will decay almost to nothing over almost uncountable eons.
- Strange Company reports on the trial and execution of Christopher Slaughterford for murder. Was there even a crime?
- Strange Maps shares a Coudenhove-Kalergi map imagining the division of the world into five superstates.
- Understanding Society considers entertainment as a valuable thing, here.
- Denis Colombi at Une heure de peine announces his new book, Où va l’argent des pauvres?
- John Scalzi at Whatever looks at how some mailed bread triggered a security alert, here.
- Window on Eurasia reports on the massive amount of remittances sent to Tajikistan by migrant workers, here.
- Arnold Zwicky notes a bizarre no-penguins sign for sale on Amazon.
Written by Randy McDonald
December 22, 2019 at 8:00 am
Posted in Assorted, Demographics, Economics, History, Politics, Popular Culture, Science, Social Sciences, Urban Note
Tagged with agriculture, anthropology, arab language, archeology, asteroids, australia, birds, black holes, blogging, blogs, brampton, california, central asia, charlottetown, china, chixculub, clash of ideologies, conspiracies, crime, demographic, disasters, earth, economics, education, environment, futurology, gardens, geopolitics, greece, holm 15a, iceland, indonesia, internet, ireland, kansas, libraries, links, london, mass media, mass transit, MCG+01-02-015, mexico, migration, nirvana, oddities, philosophy, physics, politics, popular literature, popular music, prince edward island, qanon, refugees, science fiction, sociology, southeast asia, space science, space travel, star trek, supranationalism, taiwan, tajikistan, tea, theatre, tijuana, toronto, united kingdom, united states, vietnam, war, west norden, wichita, writing
[BLOG] Five Marginal Revolution links
- Marginal Revolution considers if the CFA franc system is dying out, here.
- Marginal Revolution shares a link to a paper quantifying the effects of the old boys club, here.
- Marginal Revolution contrasts and compares the old NAFTA and the new USMCA, here.
- Marginal Revolution notes how Germany has access to nuclear weapons, here.
- Marginal Revolution looks at the high rate of consainguineous marriage in Saudi Arabia, here.
Written by Randy McDonald
December 19, 2019 at 6:45 pm
Posted in Assorted, Economics, Politics, Popular Culture, Social Sciences
Tagged with blogs, central africa, economics, family, feminism, france, gender, genetics, germany, globalization, links, middle east, nafta, nato, north america, nuclear weapons, regionalism, saudi arabia, sociology, west africa
[URBAN NOTE] Fifteen Niagara Falls, Ontario links (#niagarafalls, #niagarafallscanada)
- A new storyboard in Niagara Falls displays the importance of railways to the city. The Niagara Falls Review reports.
- Niagara Falls city council is considering the idea of linking casinos by aerial car. The Niagara Falls Review reports.
- Global News reports on a drug bust that saw two people arrested in Niagara Falls.
- The Niagara Falls Review reports the number of reported homicides in Niagara Region tripled in 2019, to six.
- The immersive live nativity hosted by a Niagara Falls church sounds interesting. More is here.
- A recent discussion at Niagara Falls city council was dominated by discussion of housing issues and of homelessness. The Niagara Falls Review reports.
- Most revenues from the casinos of Niagara Falls have been directed to the infrastructure of the city. The Niagara Falls Review reports.
- City council in Niagara Falls has approved the construction of a 72-storey hotel. Construct Connect reports.
- In November, the mayor announced the old city hall and courthouse in the downtown of Niagara Falls was scheduled to be demolished. The Niagara Falls Review reports.
- The Bath House Hotel once was intended to be a centrepiece of local tourism. The Niagara Falls Review reports.
- Carrie Bosco writes about the experience of a customer service associate working at the Niagara Falls Public Library, over at the Niagara Falls Review.
- The Niagara Falls Public Library in winter is a happening place for locals. The Niagara Falls Review reports.
- A Chinese developer hopes that a proposed $C 1.5 billion dollar project in south Niagara Falls will still go forward. The Niagara Falls Review reports.
- Niagara Falls is going to have a hard time replacing city historian Sherman Zavitz. The Niagaa Falls Review reports.
- Niagara News reports on the Winter Festival of Lights in Niagara Falls.
Written by Randy McDonald
December 14, 2019 at 4:00 pm
Posted in Assorted, Canada, Economics, History, Politics, Popular Culture, Social Sciences, Urban Note
Tagged with architecture, china, crime, economics, history, holidays, libraries, niagara, niagara falls, ontario, politics, rail, tourism, travel, Urban Note, winter
[NEWS] Seven links about politics in Canada and around the world
- The immigration fiasco in Québec shows the tension between different strains of local nationalism. The Conversation reports.
- The Québec labour market, Le Devoir notes, actually bears up well to a comparison with Ontario. Gaps in employment have been closed, and then some.
- Barry Saxifrage at the National Observer notes how, in terms of climate pollution, Alberta and Saskatchewan are heading in the opposite direction from the rest of Canada.
- Many Canadians, displaced by the collapse of the oil economy, have gone south to Texas. Global News reports.
- Will the divisions in the United States only get deeper? How bad will it get? MacLean’s considers.
- The chaos in Iran, and the terrible death toll, deserve to be noted. Is the Islamic Republic nearing, if not its end, some other transition? Open Democracy theorizes.
- Terry Glavin at MacLean’s notes how governments around the world are facing crises of legitimacy, here.
Written by Randy McDonald
December 7, 2019 at 10:30 pm
Posted in Assorted, Canada, Economics, Politics, Popular Culture, Social Sciences
Tagged with alberta, canada, civil war, clash of ideologies, Demographics, economics, environment, immigration, iran, links, middle east, migration, national identity, news, oil, ontario, politics, québec, saskatchewan, united states, wexit
[NEWS] Six links on journalism in Canada: Québec, Halifax, PEI, Guelph …
- La Presse carries the concern of a Québec journalist that the decline of daily papers could have a catastrophic impact on the province’s culture.
- The Québec government would like financially-stressed newspaper group to form a coop. CTV News reports.
- That the Toronto Star shut down its free Metro affiliates across Canada made the news in Halifax. CBC reports.
- The closure of the Transcontinental Media printing plant in Borden-Carleton means that PEI no longer has a local printer for its media. CBC reports.
- Sabrina Wilkinson writes at The Conversation about the increasingly tenuous nature of journalism in Canada, not least as an employer.
- This Alex Migdal piece looks at how Guelph, Ontario, has fared since the closure of the Guelph Mercury daily.
Written by Randy McDonald
December 7, 2019 at 8:00 pm
Posted in Assorted, Canada, Economics, Politics, Popular Culture, Social Sciences
Tagged with atlantic canada, canada, economics, guelph, journalism, links, mass media, nova scotia, ontario, politics, prince edward island, québec, toronto star
[URBAN NOTE] Seven city links: Innisfil, Buffalo, Ottawa, Montréal, Winnipeg, Amsterdam, Singapore
- The town of Innisfil is looking forward to some very futuristic developments. Global News reports.
- Jeremy Deaton at CityLab reports on how, buffered by the Great Lakes, Buffalo NY may end gaining from climate change.
- The Ottawa chain Bridgehead Coffee has been sold to national chain Second Cup. Global News reports.
- Many of the more eye-raising installations in the Gay Village of Montréal have since been removed. CTV News reports.
- Warming huts for homeless people in Winnipeg were torn down because the builders did not follow procedures. Global News reports.
- Open Democracy looks at innovative new public governance of the city budget in Amsterdam, here.
- Singapore, located in a well-positioned Southeast Asia and with working government, may take over from Hong Kong. Bloomberg View makes the case.
Written by Randy McDonald
December 6, 2019 at 11:30 pm
Posted in Assorted, Demographics, Economics, History, Politics, Popular Culture, Social Sciences, Urban Note
Tagged with amsterdam, buffalo, canada, china, cities, economics, futurology, glbt issues, global warming, globalization, hong kong, innisfil, manitoba, montréal, netherlands, new york, ontario, politics, public art, québec, singapore, southeast asia, united states, Urban Note, winnipeg