Michael, (and others) have been lamenting the failure of Pen-l to look at the current economic problems etc. I have a practical (?) suggestion.
I teach a course called "Canadian Economic Problems" and also am frequently called upon to lecture on "free trade" and its implications, etc. What I do not have is a comprehensive critique of so-called free trade, all the agreements etc. What I would like to see is pen-l put together a comprehensive critique of 'free trade' (sic) that we could use in classes, public protests, media, etc. with all the appropriate academic references to studies, reports, etc. I know of a number of studies (such as the excellent one by CEPR) on globalism and (the failure of) growth. But I don't know them all. Nor do I know of all of the studies on NAFTA and job destruction such as the one by EPI/CCPA. What I would like to see is a series of reports, not overly long, by interested pen-l members of the evils of 'free trade' and its effects. Something that we could put together and download (or get students to download) that would give a comprehensive theoretical and empirical critique of the 'free trade conspiracy' with all the appropriate footnotes/URLs to relevant studies/reports/websites. I am not suggesting whole articles. Indeed that would make the project useless -- but rather short 500-1000 word summaries of a group of empirical and/or theoretical literature. Is this a feasible project? Or is it academic wishthinking? I do think we need to give our young people in the trenches some theoretical and practical evidence to maintain their resolve, never mind our own. Paul Phillips, Economics, University of Manitoba
