Indebted dragon: Lynette Ong explains China's construction economy
January 8, 2013
The Chinese economy may be the envy of the world, but its impressive new development, from skyscrapers to highways, is underwritten by a risky strategy, warns Associate Professor Lynette Ong. “Governments borrow money using land as collateral and repay the interest on their loans using funds they earn from selling or leasing the same land,” […]
‘It’s one thing to seek a tax haven, it’s something else to live in Russia’: French actor may regret his recent defection
January 8, 2013
Article by Joseph Brean, National Post “What is happening is fun at one level,” said Aurel Braun, a professor of political science at the University of Toronto, and visiting professor of government at Harvard University. The French are upset, the Russians are elated, and Mr. Putin gets to pretend he showed up the West by […]
I am Canadian! (because of treaties with Indigenous nations)
January 3, 2013
Article by Tobold Rollo, PhD Candidate in the Department of Political Science and the University of Toronto As Chief Theresa Spence continues her hunger strike, her request that Prime Minister Stephen Harper meet with Chiefs to discuss treaties has many Canadians wondering what relevance treaties could possibly hold today. Anticipating this uncertainty, I wrote a […]
Vote mobs aren’t the cure for low youth turnout
December 18, 2012
Article by SEMRA SEVI, The Globe and Mail Vote mobs that swept across the country on university campuses during the 2011 federal elections did not have a measurable impact on youth voter turnout. The news portrayed them as being very impressive as they were happening, but the National Youth Survey commissioned by Elections Canada suggests […]
Ruth Marshall Awarded Chancellor Jackman Faculty Research Fellowship in 2013-2014 for "Speaking in Tongues: Religion and the Call of the Political"
December 11, 2012
Congratulations to Ruth Marshall, Department of Political Science / Department for the Study of Religion. She has been awarded a Chancellor Jackman Faculty Research Fellowship in 2013-2014 for Speaking in Tongues: Religion and the Call of the Political. Research Fellows hold an office on the 10th floor of the Jackman Humanities Building and are the […]
In Memoriam: J. Stefan Dupre
December 10, 2012
J. Stefan Dupré Memorial Fund. For more information, please click here. IN MEMORIAM DUPRÉ, J. Stefan O. C., O.Ont., Ph.D., D.Sc.Soc., LL.D., D.U., Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Toronto. November 3, 1936 ~ December 6, 2012 Died with his family at his side. He leaves his adored wife Anne Willson Dupré […]
China’s ‘White Elephant’ Investment Race May End in Crises (Lynette Ong)
December 7, 2012
“Financing the Middle Kingdom’s recent building boom has been expensive: Estimates put local government debt alone at between $800 billion and $2 trillion, or around 13 to 36 percent of GDP. If the real estate bubble pops, financial and social crises will follow1.” Dr. Lynette Ong discusses succession of power in China to Xi Jinping […]
[Book Review] During life under perfect tyranny, compromises with a fickle state
December 5, 2012
by Jeffrey Kopstein, The Globe & Mail They were uninterested in mere compliance or obedience; they wanted devotion. That was the moral of a story related to me by one of my first college professors, a refugee from communist Hungary. In 1952, on a normal workday, he was summoned to an office meeting of the […]
Post City Magazine names Clifton van der Linden one of Toronto's Top Young Innovators for 2012
December 4, 2012
2012 INNOVAT.O.RS 12 big ideas and game-changing inventions from some of the GTA’s brightest young minds The vote rocker CLIFTON VAN DER LINDEN Picking who to vote for at election time is a bit like choosing between cupcake flavours. You rule out the ones that are too wacky or just plain unpalatable, and from the […]
Indebted Dragon: The Risky Strategy Behind China's Construction Economy
November 28, 2012
Article written by Lynette H. Ong; published in Foreign Affairs For four decades, the Chinese economy has grown by between seven and ten percent each year. It is the envy of the world, despite its relatively sluggish recent performance. Visitors to Beijing, Shanghai, and other major Chinese cities are quickly awed by impressive skyscrapers, glittering […]