Brutal communist societies did advance economic equality, although what was shared equally was poverty rather than prosperity
Western civilization and liberal democracy are under siege. This isn’t new. We’ve been challenged just in the last century by fascism and communism, by Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Soviet Russia and Red China. One might have expected – and many did– that the ideology of these failed societies would remain in its grave. But,…
There is only a diverse and beautiful ‘we:’ we can be confident we’ll find the answers we’re looking for as we move forward together
We live in a time of great polarization – but there is a way out. While the post-Second World War era promised prosperity to all, in recent years we’ve seen a decline in real wages for the common person, exponential increases in salary for the heads of large corporations, and government bailouts of businesses deemed…
On the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, some romantics still embrace the fallacies of communism and its sister socialism
A number of Canadian newspapers recently noted the 100th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. The attention was misplaced and lacked perspective. In 1917, a small band of fierce, committed and violent extremists seized control of the Tsarist Russian Empire. They then created the much more oppressive and murderous Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. After the success…
Income tax is an industrial-era institution that won’t survive globalization and the digital revolution
With all due respect to federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau, if you're going to declare war on tax cheats, do it right. The truth is there’s a deep structural flaw in Canada's (and every other country's) income tax system. It's rooted in the unequal tax treatment of one class of individuals over another. Ever since…
The world desperately needs to change and we can deliver what's needed: a new mindset, flexibility, innovative genius, moral goodness and guts
The 21st century just might be Canada's, in much the same way the 20th century belonged to the United States. As Canada enters into its maturity as a nation, it could provide much-needed moral authority and a few groundbreaking ideas just when the world desperately needs them. It's been a long time since former U.S. President Abraham…
Hopefully, as disaster looms, Venezuela can start down a road away from both crony capitalism and socialism
Imagine a city where menus don’t print prices because inflation drives them higher daily; where streets are ghostly empty after dark and the murder rate is the world’s highest; where people queue for hours for meagre supplies of medicines and food, leaving many hungry and sick; where farmers don’t bring goods to market because roads…
GM CEO Charles Wilson established a pension plan that would invest in the broader U.S. economy to ensure the protection of his workers' pensions
Around the mid-20th century, Peter Drucker was the go-to business guru. A strategically-placed copy of one of his management books graced many an office credenza, even if its contents weren’t always diligently read or put into operation. Drucker (1909-2005) was born in Austria in the waning days of the Habsburgs. He moved to England in 1933…
The affordable housing crisis is an obvious symptom of a deep-seated disease in modern capitalism
Canada is a modern success story; with a functioning democracy, a tolerant, multi-ethnic society and an economy that’s the envy of the world. So how can it be that so many of our citizens can’t afford to put a roof over their heads? It’s shocking to learn that many working Canadians are unable to gain…
It was Friedman who laid out the monetarist case AGAINST social responsibility for business
We should have seen it coming; in fact, we did see it coming and still ignored the obvious truth. Volkswagen’s infamous “Diesel Dupe” is a self-inflicted (possibly mortal) wound for the iconic German carmaker. At present, VW is recalling 500,000 cars in the U.S. and has set aside 6.5 billion Euros to cover the expected…
Canadians could look to the past for innovative ways of dealing with poverty
Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson wants to eliminate poverty in a generation. You have to admire his vision and ambition, but it won’t be easy to accomplish this lofty goal. The Mayor’s Poverty Task Force studied the problem and has recently made 28 recommendations. It identified the root causes of poverty as a chronic lack of…
Western civilization and liberal democracy are under siege. This isn’t new. We’ve been challenged just in the last century by fascism and communism, by Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Soviet Russia and Red China. One might have expected – and many did– that the ideology of these failed societies would remain in its grave. But,…
