Blog
Mel Watkins
| A new 800-page book, titled "Extraction Empire" and edited by Pierre Belanger, triggers ruminations on staples and extraction. |
Columnists
Rick Salutin
| The time is always ripe for a dirge led by the literati over the dire downfall of culture wrought by the Internet. The latest is in the New York Times Book Review by Leon Wieseltier. |
Blog
Mel Watkins
| The famous Canadian historian was deeply touched by the First World War and it affected his career and philosophy for the rest of his life. |
Blog
Mel Watkins
| In her new book, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin studies the development of investigative journalism and progressive politics in the U.S., faciliated by the availability of cheap paper from Canada. |
Blog
Duncan Cameron
| The staples story is a cautionary tale Canadians ignore at their peril. As presented by Mel Watkins, the staples model of economic development is central to understanding questions of public policy. |
Blog
Daniel Drache
| In this installment of the staple theory series, Daniel Drache considers whether the so-called "Northern model" of development can survive this latest incarnation of staples dominance. |
Blog
Hugh Grant
| Hugh Grant argues that the historical roots of the staples theory enunciated by Watkins go back a little further than just Harold Innis. Learn here about the initial contributions of W.A. Mackintosh. |
Blog
Brendan Haley
| There is an intersection between the "staples trap" and a new, more ominous "carbon trap," that must be addressed centrally in modern policy responses to the challenge of staples dependence. |
Blog
Abraham Rotstein
| Watkins' staple theory of economic growth showed how Canada had found a way out of its own staples dependence, emerging as a developed country despite its initial reliance on the export of staples. |
Blog
Christopher Majka
| At Halifax's Pier 21, once the gateway for emigrants and refugees entering Canada, I sat down with Thomas Mulcair, leader of the federal NDP, to talk energy, environment, economy and electoral reform. |