Matt Polacko

Nordic nations’ workers have OECD’s highest union rate Most Nordic workers are members of a union, which bargain about a lot more than just terms and conditions at their own workplace.

Nordic nations’ workers have OECD’s highest union rate, playing a key economic role that distinguishes social democracy from neoliberalism

Nordics can manage full employment with low inflation while social infrastructure creates high labour market participation

open.substack.com/pub/tparkin/...

A graph illustrating the decline in negative views of homosexuality across several wealthy countries from 1984 to 2022. The title states that “Negative views of homosexuality have dropped in Western Europe and the US” The countries are the United States, Spain, Great Britain, Sweden, and the Netherlands. Each line shows the percentage of respondents in each country who believe that homosexuality is rarely or never justifiable, represented by scores of 1 to 4 on a scale from 1 to 10. In 1984, the United States had the highest percentage at 75%, followed by Spain at 70%, Great Britain at 61%, Sweden at 48%, and the Netherlands at 34%. By 2022, the percentages had decreased significantly: the United States to 28%, Spain to 19%, Great Britain to 15%, Sweden to 9%, and the Netherlands to 6%. The data source is listed as Integrated Values Surveys (2024). The chart is CC BY Our World in Data.

Homophobic attitudes have fallen in Western Europe and the United States

This new AER paper finds that business owners are much more likely to hire workers who share their political views. Political opinions of business owners have a real impact on who gets hired, how much they get paid, and who gets promoted. Political bias plays a big role in hiring

Special Series: Always Canada. Never 51 Trump’s threats have mobilized us. Canadians want to be less vulnerable and this will require more economic independence, resilience and growth. Social Capital Partners' Always Canada. Never…

The Trump administration is waging an economic war against Canada.

We are more vulnerable to these attacks because, over the past twenty years, Canadian wealth and the ownership of our economy have become more concentrated in fewer hands.

#AlwaysCanada #Never51

socialcapitalpartners.ca/never51/

Tuition fees are rising again and nobody is happy – it’s time to actually fix our broken university sector | Zoe Williams The figures simply don’t add up for higher education in England and Wales. Yet delusional politicians from all parties seem intent on avoiding the issue, says Guardian columnist Zoe Williams

Excellent summary of how the higher education funding model in the UK is broken @zoesqwilliams.bsky.social. Needs to be a serious conversation about how to fix it, but no-one seems willing to take that on #BrokenBritain
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

3/6 🧵 In @cpsjournal.bsky.social, @alanjacobs.bsky.social & @markkayser.bsky.social analyze social status & far-right voting via ESS in West Europe 2002-2020. Downward intergeneration occupational mobility brings far-right voting, but upward mobility doesn't protect. doi.org/10.1177/001041402513496

Canadians Accuse Israel of Genocide New polling shows growing numbers across party lines believe Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute a genocide

Support For Recognizing A Palestinian State:

🟢 Support: 61%
🔴 Oppose: 39%

Read it here -> open.substack.com/pub/canadian...

EPSA have announced that they will hold a conference in July 2026.

😵‍💫 We understand that there might be some confusion about EPSS and EPSA.

👉🏽 So we thought we would clarify some things.

A short 🧵

The Bleak Future of Trumponomics Donald Trump is destroying the world’s faith in America and the dollar. We will pay dearly for that.

Trump’s erraticism has rattled global faith in America, a blow that will cost our economy dearly. From @ryanlcooper.com, the bleak future of Trump's economy:
trib.al/R1JJye4

🍁How Economically Patriotic Are You?

📊My latest for 338, with data from @pallasdata.bsky.social → www.338canada.ca/p/how-econom...

When a journalist uses AI to interview a dead child, isn’t it time to ask what the boundaries should be? | Gaby Hinsliff The virtual world can bring a kind of friendship and a kind of connection, even to the grieving. But it can also facilitate exploitation of very human needs, says Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff

When a journalist uses AI to interview a dead child, isn’t it time to ask what the boundaries should be? | Gaby Hinsliff

Scratch the surface and a lot of the so-called migration crisis turns out to be a housing crisis

If you do not like the statistics (job numbers), discredit the statistical agency and fire the statistical director. A pattern in authoritarian regimes.

We are witnessing the silencing of American media | Robert Reich From the Washington Post to CBS, companies are caving to Trump. This is how democracy dies

Shame on any media outlet or university that allows Trump to silence it. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jul/30/trump-silencing-of-american-media

‘Self-termination is most likely’: the history and future of societal collapse An epic analysis of 5,000 years of civilisation argues that a global collapse is coming unless inequality is vanquished

"People are fundamentally egalitarian but are led to collapses by enriched, status-obsessed elites."

Global collapse is coming unless inequality is vanquished. But disaster is not inevitable: every one of us has agency. USE IT.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Canadians Eye EU Membership as Trust in U.S. Fades New poll shows rising support for closer trade with Europe and growing interest in joining the EU

"Should Canada seriously consider initiating a formal process to join the European Union?"

🔵 Yes: 46%
🟡 No: 38%

canadianpolling.substack.com/p/canadians-...

I'm delighted to see this article out in @govandopp.bsky.social! Jonas Wenker and I show that losing an election has a far stronger negative effect on populist voters than on non-populist ones. For populists, losing signals that the system is broken. 1/5 www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Predatory Financialization. Paul Krugman, Understanding Inequality: Part V - Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality Part V of Stone Center Senior Scholar Paul Krugman’s series “Understanding Inequality,” which originally appeared on his Substack newsletter.

How has Wall Street increased income and wealth disparities? @pkrugman.bsky.social explains why the financialization of the U.S. economy has been a major driver of inequality.
stonecenter.gc.cuny.edu/predatory-fi...

Nostalgia is eating us alive. Instead of building a new world, we’re regurgitating a past that never existed | Martin Ingle We want to go back to a time when we could drive our big cars and tease our hair – without thinking about the ozone or whatever

Nostalgia is eating us alive. Instead of building a new world, we’re regurgitating a past that never existed | Martin Ingle

They're coming for every single institution. This has been obvious for months. Which is why Old Men like me have been Yelling At Clouds for university presidents to start speaking publicly, loudly, & collectively, against the full-scale assault on our sector

www.markcopelovitch.com/post/it-s-ma...

This Labour government has failed. People want real transformative politics – we will give it to them | Jeremy Corbyn More than 500,000 people have signed up to our new party to help build a genuine alternative to poverty, inequality and war, says former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn

"By scapegoating migrants and minorities for its own domestic failures, Labour has paved the path for Reform UK. This Labour government is here to appease Reform. We are here to defeat Reform." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The Orbanization of American Universities is proceeding apace.

🚨 | NEW PAPER: Community spaces are vanishing, and with them, the ties that bind us.
A year on from the Southport riots, we explore how the loss of pubs, parks and youth clubs is weakening social connection, and how to rebuild it 👉 ippr.org/articles/places-to-come-together

Donald Trump’s tariff blitz brings US levies to highest levels since 1930s Washington has locked in tariffs on almost 45% of American imports

Trump is levying more taxes on US consumers than any president in US history. And he has built a massive propaganda machine to explain to people that he's not dong what he's actually doing. www.ft.com/content/50f8...

The world's most prestigious university fails the Lando test:

"University officials...concluded months ago that even if they prevailed in their court fight against the government, a deal could help Harvard to avoid more troubles over the course of Mr. Trump’s term." www.nytimes.com/2025/07/28/u...

Inflation was a big issue--maybe even *the* issue--in 2024.

But do citizens understand how to interpret inflation rates?

Using some new data from @verasight.bsky.social, the answer seems to be largely: no.

On top of that, Republicans show significantly less understanding than Democrats.

It's very important to understand that the corporate/centrist/anti-populist wing of the Democratic Party won the party's internal civil war & thus won the power to direct the Democratic Party's policy and brand...and here is what that wing has delivered 👇

And here's our full Centre for Future Work Canada report on why a bad deal with Trump is worse than no deal at all: centreforfuturework.ca/2025/07/22/a...

ANALYSIS: Workers are being priced out of Toronto. Can we reverse course? | TVO Today A new report argues that the GTA’s housing system needs an overhaul — and fast.

"At every stage of the homebuilding process, from land assembly to planning to construction, the math simply no longer works to deliver affordable homes." — @jm-mcgrath.bsky.social