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Welcome back to Let’s Talk Politics! This is Part 2 of my conversation with economist and Director of the Centre for Future Work, Jim Stanford. In this episode, Stanford brings clarity to contentious economic debates and issues — from wealth inequality and corporate power to the misleading narratives that shape our political discourse. It’s a candid, eye-opening discussion you won’t want to miss.

Born and raised in Alberta, Stanford dismantles the province's separatist rhetoric with insider precision, revealing how record-breaking oil industry profits have failed to improve life for average Albertans. "Real wages have fallen. They're lower than they were 10 years ago," he explains, pointing to deliberate policy choices—frozen minimum wages, anti-union labor laws, and corporate tax cuts—that prevent prosperity from reaching working people. Rather than blaming Ottawa, Stanford argues Albertans should scrutinize their provincial leaders and corporate executives who benefit from this arrangement while promoting divisive nationalism as a distraction.

The conversation shifts to inflation's true drivers, challenging the conventional thought that workers' wages fuel inflation. Stanford explains that record corporate profits—not labor costs—correlated with inflation's rise and fall during the pandemic recovery. "Unit labor costs had no correlation to it whatsoever," he notes, explaining how unique post-pandemic conditions created opportunities for companies to exploit disrupted supply chains and commodity shortages.

Stanford also addresses recurring anxieties about AI and technology eliminating jobs, having witnessed similar panics throughout his career. "We've never experienced what I would call mass technological unemployment," he observes, explaining that while AI will transform work, the greater threats come from changing employment relationships rather than technology itself. His human-centered economic perspective provides a refreshing alternative to abstract metrics and theoretical models disconnected from lived reality.

Challenge your economic assumptions and gain a clearer understanding of the forces shaping our economy by listening to this thought-provoking episode.

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Quick heads up this episode was recorded on June 9, 2025 so while the news may have changed since this conversation was recorded. The thoughts and ideas still remain relevant.

Check out some of Jim Stanford's work here:

Let’s drop the phoney Alberta versus Canada nonsense. The province has met the enemy — and it is them