Why I am joining Substack
Having formally parted ways with my Academic Self in 2018, I miss the act of exploratory and analytical writing. I write often for my job, of course, but on topics that I would not otherwise choose to write.
I will use Substack as a publishing house to analyze politics, the economy, broader cultural trends and film. It’s gonna be a hodgepodge of things, but I am excited to write again. I include by biography below for those who are new to me and my work.
I branded this Substack ‘Ideas in Motion’ for two reasons. First, for the better part of 15 years I devoted most of my time to a thorough examination of the major (and some minor) frameworks and perspectives in political theory, moral philosophy and economic thought. Second, I have cast a ballot for all four of Canada’s main federalist parties and have been a dues-paying member of the three principle parties. I have thought about, and comfortably ‘lived’, inside liberal, socialist and conservative political orientations, hence the reference to reference to ‘motion’.
I am currently affiliated with the C.D. Howe Institute in Toronto as a Senior Fellow. Previously, I was Chief Economist and Vice President of Policy Development at the Insurance Bureau of Canada. Prior to that, I worked as an economist for Unifor, Canada’s largest private sector labour union, wherein I led the union’s engagements in macroeconomics and fiscal policy. In my capacity as Unifor’s lead economist, I sat on the Ontario Finance Minister’s Roundtable of private sector economists and acted as an advisor to the Senior Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada.
I hold a bachelor degree in economics and accounting from Wilfrid Laurier University. My master’s and doctoral degrees, both in political science, were conferred by York University. I closed my academic career as a visiting scholar at Harvard Law School.
Although it was a love for Plato and political philosophy that drew my to the academy, my research and writing examined long-term structural adjustments in the North American economy, including inflation, trade liberalization, corporate governance and economic inequality, among other topics. My writing appeared in academic forums and in popular media outlets, including the Toronto Star, Globe & Mail, National Post, CBC News, Radio Canada International and Maclean’s Magazine.