Azim Essaji (he/him)
@aessaji.bsky.social
Associate Professor, Economics
Wilfrid Laurier University
Views expressed are not of my employer; sometimes, they're not even my own
Wilfrid Laurier University
Views expressed are not of my employer; sometimes, they're not even my own
Ontario Liberals screwed up in Scarborough Southwest, a riding which the NDP had held because of Doly Begum, not because it was NDP territory. Nate Erskine-Smith would've won easily.....
September 4, 2026 at 2:34 AM
Ontario Liberals screwed up in Scarborough Southwest, a riding which the NDP had held because of Doly Begum, not because it was NDP territory. Nate Erskine-Smith would've won easily.....
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)
We live in a simulation designed to maximally torture one Pierre Poilievre.
GDP data out this morning shows a strong rebound for Canada’s economy in the second quarter. It also revised the first quarter data to show Canada did not have a technical recession after all (though growth was still very tepid)
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Canada Economy Grows 3.3% in Second Quarter, Fastest Since '23
Growth in Canada’s real gross domestic product accelerated to 3.3% in the second quarter, confirming a strong economic rebound after a yearlong slump brought on by US tariffs and a slowdown in immigra...
www.bloomberg.com
August 28, 2026 at 1:31 PM
We live in a simulation designed to maximally torture one Pierre Poilievre.
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)
Analysis | Hakeem Jeffries' meeting with Jared Kusher is a crucial first step toward winning back former Democrats who left the party when they personally married the daughter of the nation's most prominent Republican.
August 26, 2026 at 4:09 PM
Analysis | Hakeem Jeffries' meeting with Jared Kusher is a crucial first step toward winning back former Democrats who left the party when they personally married the daughter of the nation's most prominent Republican.
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)
It's the people in the videos trying to flee that stab me through to the soul when seeing the clips of the massive flash flood in the Himalayan border areas of Nepal and China's Tibet.
August 26, 2026 at 3:38 PM
It's the people in the videos trying to flee that stab me through to the soul when seeing the clips of the massive flash flood in the Himalayan border areas of Nepal and China's Tibet.
I'm sorry, but I need to take a mental health day. I'll be in my garden, but don't contact me if you need me. www.theguardian.com/film/2026/au...
Tim Curry, star of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Stephen King’s It, dies aged 80
A prolific performer across stage, screen and TV, the actor starred in Legend, Clue and It, but will always be associated with the flamboyantly camp rock’n’roll musical in which he made his breakthrou...
www.theguardian.com
August 26, 2026 at 4:09 PM
I'm sorry, but I need to take a mental health day. I'll be in my garden, but don't contact me if you need me. www.theguardian.com/film/2026/au...
For the record, this is not a good thing.
2025-26: the first year Canadian universities employed more tenured/TT professors over the age of 70 than under the age of 35.
August 25, 2026 at 6:39 PM
For the record, this is not a good thing.
I am uncommonly saddened by this news. What a talent:
www.theguardian.com/music/2026/a...
Dolly Parton, country star, actor and philanthropist, dies aged 80
www.theguardian.com/music/2026/a...
Dolly Parton, country star, actor and philanthropist, dies aged 80
Dolly Parton, country star, actor and philanthropist, dies aged 80
Songwriter of I Will Always Love You, Jolene and 9 to 5 also invested millions in child literacy, Covid-19 vaccine development and other causes
www.theguardian.com
August 25, 2026 at 6:36 PM
I am uncommonly saddened by this news. What a talent:
www.theguardian.com/music/2026/a...
Dolly Parton, country star, actor and philanthropist, dies aged 80
www.theguardian.com/music/2026/a...
Dolly Parton, country star, actor and philanthropist, dies aged 80
Racism and labor at Bates: the other side of the story
open.substack.com/pub/thedrift...
open.substack.com/pub/thedrift...
Racism and labor at Bates: the other side of the story
Andrew Baker responds to Tyler Austin Harper
open.substack.com
August 19, 2026 at 9:36 PM
Racism and labor at Bates: the other side of the story
open.substack.com/pub/thedrift...
open.substack.com/pub/thedrift...
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)
Really? Because I keep seeing them in charge of everything from car dealerships to the White House, and they seem to doing just fine despite their obvious handicaps.
August 6, 2026 at 10:20 PM
Really? Because I keep seeing them in charge of everything from car dealerships to the White House, and they seem to doing just fine despite their obvious handicaps.
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)
The arguments trotted out against leaving fossil fuels in the ground are strikingly similar to the arguments trotted out against ending the slave trade, 230 years ago.
1. If we stop trading slaves / extracting fossil fuels, Britain’s economy will collapse
🧵
1. If we stop trading slaves / extracting fossil fuels, Britain’s economy will collapse
🧵
August 6, 2026 at 12:51 PM
The arguments trotted out against leaving fossil fuels in the ground are strikingly similar to the arguments trotted out against ending the slave trade, 230 years ago.
1. If we stop trading slaves / extracting fossil fuels, Britain’s economy will collapse
🧵
1. If we stop trading slaves / extracting fossil fuels, Britain’s economy will collapse
🧵
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)
After Israeli settlers invaded a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian who snatched a settler’s weapon "was killed while unarmed, videos show." Homicides by squatters targeting lawful residents of the West Bank are a near daily occurrence. Video and photographic evidence
Palestinian who snatched settler’s weapon killed while unarmed
Analysis of four videos capturing different angles of the shooting incident in the West Bank village of Tel calls into question Israel’s version of events.
www.972mag.com
August 2, 2026 at 10:02 PM
After Israeli settlers invaded a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian who snatched a settler’s weapon "was killed while unarmed, videos show." Homicides by squatters targeting lawful residents of the West Bank are a near daily occurrence. Video and photographic evidence
This is an amazing thread. The emperor has no clothes.
Neoclassical econ assumes rationality. The corollary of, "If you're so smart, why aren't you rich?" is "you're rich, so you must be very smart!" Thus, people assume that if powerful, well-compensated CEOs insist that "AI is changing everything," well then, *AI must be changing everything*.
1/
1/
August 1, 2026 at 5:08 PM
This is an amazing thread. The emperor has no clothes.
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)
Just amazing how this headline gets worse with every line
July 29, 2026 at 11:32 PM
Just amazing how this headline gets worse with every line
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)
"Would-be future American leaders who recognize the value of allies and think all will be forgiven when the White House has a new occupant need to appreciate the depth of the damage being done by its current resident." #GiftArticle www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/o...
Opinion | ‘You Aren’t Going to Like What Comes After America’ (Gift Article)
Remember when ‘blame Canada’ was a joke?
www.nytimes.com
July 29, 2026 at 11:00 PM
"Would-be future American leaders who recognize the value of allies and think all will be forgiven when the White House has a new occupant need to appreciate the depth of the damage being done by its current resident." #GiftArticle www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/o...
"All of this reeks of Christian privilege. These kinds of stunts would never be tolerated—even for a moment—if the evangelists weren’t Christian"
open.substack.com/pub/friendly...
open.substack.com/pub/friendly...
Christian preachers are turning airplanes into unwanted worship services
Evangelists are exploiting captive audiences who can’t walk away—and broadcasting it online
open.substack.com
July 28, 2026 at 3:41 PM
"All of this reeks of Christian privilege. These kinds of stunts would never be tolerated—even for a moment—if the evangelists weren’t Christian"
open.substack.com/pub/friendly...
open.substack.com/pub/friendly...
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)
Just seen that Burnham is an avid Morrissey fan and has put up a gold disc of The Smiths’ “The Queen is Dead” in No.10 North the guy who has a whole section on “racial comments” on Wikipedia
Yeah this dude doesn’t care about racism in the slightest.
Yeah this dude doesn’t care about racism in the slightest.
July 25, 2026 at 9:50 AM
Just seen that Burnham is an avid Morrissey fan and has put up a gold disc of The Smiths’ “The Queen is Dead” in No.10 North the guy who has a whole section on “racial comments” on Wikipedia
Yeah this dude doesn’t care about racism in the slightest.
Yeah this dude doesn’t care about racism in the slightest.
What? You mean the poor weren't filling up their Dodge Rams and Ford 150s to crawl through the urban traffic? You don't say.
July 24, 2026 at 7:21 PM
What? You mean the poor weren't filling up their Dodge Rams and Ford 150s to crawl through the urban traffic? You don't say.
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)
he’s gutting the public sector, he’s holding back on pharmacare deals, he tried to pull money out of daycare, he’s letting two-tier healthcare gain a foothold in alberta, and now he’s coming for public healthcare funding too
Planned changes to Ottawa’s Canada Health Transfer could slash more than $50B from public health care over a decade, David J. Climenhaga reports. This article and more at canadahealthwatch.ca #CdnHealth
July 24, 2026 at 3:19 PM
he’s gutting the public sector, he’s holding back on pharmacare deals, he tried to pull money out of daycare, he’s letting two-tier healthcare gain a foothold in alberta, and now he’s coming for public healthcare funding too
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)
OMG.
They charged and convicted the wrong man for child luring. It was someone else using a similar social media handle. And the wrongly convicted guy spent 18 months in jail.
They charged and convicted the wrong man for child luring. It was someone else using a similar social media handle. And the wrongly convicted guy spent 18 months in jail.
Hey @timbousquet.bsky.social you should definitely check this out. Wrongful conviction overturned: decisions.courts.ns.ca/nsc/nsca/en/...
R. v. Klayme - Nova Scotia Courts
decisions.courts.ns.ca
July 24, 2026 at 2:29 PM
OMG.
They charged and convicted the wrong man for child luring. It was someone else using a similar social media handle. And the wrongly convicted guy spent 18 months in jail.
They charged and convicted the wrong man for child luring. It was someone else using a similar social media handle. And the wrongly convicted guy spent 18 months in jail.
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)
All options have always been on the table, it just depends on who you ask on "Team Canada" at any given point in time.
For example, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources versus....
globalnews.ca/news/1181583...
For example, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources versus....
globalnews.ca/news/1181583...
Canada will use energy sector as leverage in CUSMA talks, minister says - National | Globalnews.ca
In his second year as energy minister, Tim Hodgson said he will focus on creating a 'coherent strategy' for electricity and nuclear energy.
globalnews.ca
July 24, 2026 at 1:33 AM
All options have always been on the table, it just depends on who you ask on "Team Canada" at any given point in time.
For example, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources versus....
globalnews.ca/news/1181583...
For example, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources versus....
globalnews.ca/news/1181583...
There has been so much hand-wringing in Canadian circles about the widening gap between Canada and the US in GDP per capita (Canada is poorer that Alabama, etc.). 1/
July 23, 2026 at 4:19 PM
There has been so much hand-wringing in Canadian circles about the widening gap between Canada and the US in GDP per capita (Canada is poorer that Alabama, etc.). 1/
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)
Here @acoyne.bsky.social, as usual, nails it: "If there’s nothing we can do – if we lose no matter what – then we might as well do what we want."
www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...
www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...
Opinion: There is no appeasing Donald Trump, or deterring him
Trump’s latest tariffs have liberated Canada, in a strange sort of way
www.theglobeandmail.com
July 21, 2026 at 6:33 PM
Here @acoyne.bsky.social, as usual, nails it: "If there’s nothing we can do – if we lose no matter what – then we might as well do what we want."
www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...
www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...
He's not an economist, he just plays one on TV....
"Carleton University business Prof. Ian Lee said... 'we’ve got to compromise and give up some things to get what we want from Trump.'"
Has this professor learned nothing at all?
www.ctvnews.ca/world/trumps...
Has this professor learned nothing at all?
www.ctvnews.ca/world/trumps...
‘Without us there’s no way they can survive,’ Trump says of Canada as trade war intensifies. Live updates here.
After announcing new tariffs Prime Minister Mark Carney says are "in violation" of CUSMA, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters of Canada, "Without us there’s no way they can survive.”
www.ctvnews.ca
July 21, 2026 at 7:17 PM
He's not an economist, he just plays one on TV....