Author Archives: haroldchorneyeconomist

Unknown's avatar

About haroldchorneyeconomist

I am Professor of political economy at Concordia university in Montréal, Québec, Canada. I received my B.A.Hons (econ.&poli sci) from the University of Manitoba. I also completed my M.A. degree in economics there. Went on to spend two years at the London School of Economics as a Ph.D. student in economics and then completed my Ph.D. in political economy at the University of Toronto. Was named a John W.Dafoe fellow, a CMHC fellow and a Canada Council fellow. I also was named a Woodrow Wilson fellow in 1968 after completing my first class honours undergraduate degree. Worked as an economist in the area of education, labour economics and as the senior economist with the Manitoba Housing and Renewal Corporation for the Government of Manitoba from 1972 to 1978. I also have worked as an economic consultant for MDT socio-economic consultants and have been consulted on urban planning, health policy, linguistic duality and public sector finance questions by the governments of Manitoba, Saskatchewan,the cities of Regina and Saskatoon, Ontario and the Federal government of Canada. I have also been consulted by senior leaders of the British Labour party, MPs from the Progressive Conservative party, the Liberal party and the New Democrats on economic policy questions. Members of the Government of France under the Presidency of Francois Mitterand discussed my work on public sector deficits. I have also run for elected office at the municipal level. I first began to write about quantitative easing as a useful policy option during the early 1980s.

The Ghost of Maurice Duplessis

The Québec conflict over access to higher education and the refusal of the embattled Liberal party government of Jean Charest to compromise the principal of a major increase in fees has reached a critical point. With the adoption by the … Continue reading

Posted in Canada, civil liberties, Québec, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

François Hollande a Supply Sider ? Oh M.Hollande SVP Say it ain’t So .Victor Hugo Would Not Approve.

Well it didn’t take long. Its not even 24 hours since François Hollande has assumed the Presidency of France and already some insiders are claiming, perhaps accurately although in my view its still too early to say definitively that M.Hollande … Continue reading

Posted in austerity, deficit hysteria, European debt crisis, European unemployment, France politics+economy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Greece on road to new election;François Hollande begins his term as Président of France

This has  been a watershed day in Europe. With considerable pomp, much joy and great expectations François Hollande has begun his term as seventh Président of the fifth République following in the historic footsteps of Charles De Gaulle, Georges Pompidou, … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Greek talks appear to fail:New elections very likely;anti-austerity a growing movement

According to the latest reports from Greece the talks among the three leading party leaders and the Greek president have failed to reach an agreement essentially because Syriza is sticking to its position and refusing to agree to enforcing  extreme … Continue reading

Posted in austerity, deficit hysteria, deficits and debt, European debt crisis, European unemployment, Greek sovereign debt crisis, Mr.Papandreou and democracy, Uncategorized, unemployment | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Mélenchon challenges Le Pen in her Pas de Calais assembly seat; Greece new election very likely

Jean Luc Mélenchon , the left wing anti-austerity candidate for the French presidency has announced that he will be a candidate against Marine Le Pen, the right wing National Front Presidential candidate who holds a national Assembly seat in the … Continue reading

Posted in austerity, deficit hysteria, deficits and debt, European debt crisis, European unemployment, Greek sovereign debt crisis, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Greece has a GDP as large as…Minnesota or Alberta !

Just to put matters into a bit of perspective we should note that the GDP of Greece in 2011 was 217.8 billion Euros or roughly 283 billion U.S. $. The GDP of Alberta in 2011 was 286.6 billion C $ … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Greek political stalemate continues: Pasok tries to get agreement on government that backs austerity but seeks to soften its impact

The head of Pasok has been handed the mandate to hammer out an agreement to form a coalition government from itself with 13.4 % of the vote, New Democracy with 19 % of the vote and the social democratic party … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Coalition building in Greece:A coalition may require Pasok &New Democracy party factions to co-operate with the left.

The head of the the second most sucessful party , Syriza , the coalition of the Left , Alexis Tipras has now been given the task of trying to form a government around an anti austerity position, after New Democracy … Continue reading

Posted in austerity, deficit hysteria, deficits and debt, European debt crisis, European financial stability fund, European unemployment, France politics+economy, Greek sovereign debt crisis, Mr.Papandreou and democracy | Leave a comment

Stock market reaction knee jerk and irrational…as usual

The negative initial reaction to the election in France of François Hollande and the repudiation of austerity in Greece was not unexpected. Nevertheless it is irrational and by the end of the day stocks seem to be recovering although the … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Triple witching hour for austerity:Hollande wins in France, Labour in Britain, anti-austerity in Greece.

A small but significant earthquake has occurred over the past few days in Europe. The victory of the Socialist party in the Presidential race combined with the election results in Greece along with the drubbing of the Conservative and Liberal … Continue reading

Posted in austerity, business cycles, classical economics, deficit hysteria, deficits and debt, European debt crisis, European unemployment, France politics+economy, Greek sovereign debt crisis, Mr.Papandreou and democracy, progressives, treasury view, UK local elections, Uncategorized, unemployment | Leave a comment