Blog
Aerial photo of natural gas extraction in La Plata, New Mexico. Photo: Anita Gould/Flickr
The new language of resource exploitation
Mel Watkins | A new 800-page book, titled "Extraction Empire" and edited by Pierre Belanger, triggers ruminations on staples and extraction.
Columnists
Laments over the downfall of culture not all they're cracked up to be
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
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Harold Innis goes to war
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
From pulp and paper to magazines and progressive politics
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
Photo: Mel Watkins
The Staple Theory at 50: Watkins, Innis and Canadian economics
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
Photo: Mel Watkins
The Staple Theory at 50: 'Rowing and steering' our way out of the modern staples trap
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
Photo: Mel Watkins
The Staple Theory at 50: Who's your (grand) daddy? Watkins, Innis and W.A. Mackintosh
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
Photo: Mel Watkins
The Staple Theory at 50: The staple theory and the carbon trap
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
Photo: Mel Watkins
The Staple Theory at 50: Staple theory redux
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 and Thomas Mulcair
The Mind of Mulcair: The leader of the NDP on energy, climate change, and electoral reform
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.