Subject To Change

Ben and Nigel discuss the outcome of the 2020 US Presidential Election and the implications for the next 4 years.  

Ben and Nigel are back with a special pre-election episode to discuss anything and everything to do with the unwieldy beast that is the 2020 Presidential Election.  

Ben and Nigel are back after months of COVID quarantine to bring you some more hot political nonsense. 

THIS WEEK: - Ben and Nigel wrap up their series on voting systems - Mixed Member Proportional voting for the win! Big Boy News Segment: - Not really news anymore, but we feel as though it has aged like a fine wine - American drone strike on Soleimani, tensions with Iran - Iowa and the total disaster that is the Caucus system

Ben and Nigel continue to chip away at their ill-defined question about voting systems: - Dissecting the major systems from plurality to majoritarian to proportional and mixed systems - Even more reasons we hate first-past-the-post  - Some wacky voting systems like parallel voting, majority bonus, and more - Single Transferable vote or Mixed Member Proportional? YOU DECIDE

Ben and Nigel are back from their absolutely undeserved 3-month hiatus to insult your intelligence once again with more of their patented big boy political commentary. This time we're talking voting systems: - What's the most "democratic" system? - The most "fair"? - The most "representative"? Do we have an answer to any of these dubious framed questions? Let's hope so!

THIS WEEK: - Ben and Nigel wrap up the great education debate, sharing their final thoughts and concerns about how to measure outcomes, how to equalize the gaps, and the limits of what the research can actually tell us BIG BOY NEWS SEGMENT: - Democratic Primary update - Backtracking on Alberta slightly  - Halloween nonsense - Leader of ISIS killed - What's the deal with the Kurds?

This Week: - Ben and Nigel get to the meat of the education debate - Which country scores the highest in math, science, and reading? - Insights from the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)

THIS WEEK: - Ben and Nigel start their first conversation about which funding model for education is superior: private or public? - Education as a tool for social cohesion, which system produces better outcomes, which is better able to suit the changing needs of students BIG BOY NEWS SEGMENT: - Thoughts on the Canadian election results - Spineless corporate reactions to China (NBA, Blizzard) - Ben's New Rule -- No more impeachment talk until something happens

THIS WEEK: - Ben and Nigel wrap up their thoughts about automation and deliver their very messy verdict on whether the fears are justified BIG BOY NEWS SEGMENT: - Yes, it's very late, yes Nigel is lazy, yes we are stretching the definition of "new"s at this point -- and I don't care - Greta Thunberg's UN speech and the cancerous ad hominem responses - Trump impeachment -- what the hell is going on? - Justin Trudeau and his face of many colours 

THIS WEEK: - We get to the meat of the automation debate - What do we actually mean when we say "automation"?  - What can we learn from prior industrial revolutions? - Rate of innovation vs. rate of job replacement - Why AI might be different than other technologies - Charting a strategic path vs. "letting the market sort it out"

THIS WEEK: - What are the alternatives to the minimum wage? - Differences between Universal Basic Income, Guaranteed Minimum Income, Negative Income Tax and Income Tax Credits  - What is the role of job retraining, wage subsidies  BIG BOY NEWS SEGMENT: - Trump may face a primary challenger - Hong Kong protests -- what the hell is going on, as well as a brief history - Trump's wild comments claiming to be the best president for jews - Totally unnecessary rant about Ted Cruz  

This Week: - Ben and Nigel lay down the hot, hot facts about minimum wage in the research round - The Card and Kreuger study, the Seattle minimum wage ordinance - Does the minimum wage kill jobs, increase inflation, etc. BONUS Big Boy News Segment: - Our second installment on the DEMONRAT Race 

This Week: - Nigel and Ben get all their hot garbage thoughts out about the minimum wage - Does it let corporations off too easily? Does it interfere with negotiations between the company and the individual? Or is it a vital part of workers' rights that we erode at our peril? Big Boy News Segment: - Trump's racist "go back to where you came from tweets"  -Comparing U.S. southern border coverage vs. coverage of China's attacks on Uyghur muslims - And other such pointless controversies as the black little mermaid, Scarlett Johanssen not playing a trans person on film, and Chris Pratt's shirt

This Week: - Free Trade -- it ain't so free, but it should be - The difference between the theoretical arguments for free trade vs the reality of current trade deals Big Boy News Segment: - Journalist Andy Ngo assaulted by Antifa in Portland - Anne Widdecombe's dumbass EU rant  - Justin Amash leaves the Republican Party - Democratic debates breakdown

This Week: - Nigel and Ben come back with their significantly less hot takes about free trade and protectionism - Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Friedrich List and all those economist guyz who left behind beautiful corpses  - Explaining absolute advantage and comparative advantage to understand why we even do free trade in the first place - Dani Rodrik and the important distinction between free trade and free trade agreements - TPP, TIPP, NAFTA, the WTO and all those good good acronyms

This Week: - It's Free Trade vs. Protectionism as a dichotomy for modern economic policy, and these boys are rEaDy To RuMbLe - What are the benefits and costs on a national scale? A global scale? - What the heck is Free Trade even, technically speaking? Big Boy News Segment: - So the Straight Pride Parade is apparently a thing, Ben and Nigel have thoughts... - Vox journalist Twitter thread goes viral after calling out a huge conservative pundit Steven Crowder on history of derogatory remarks, and the consequences for all YouTube creators could be huge - Sinclair Network weatherman fired after refusing to call regular weather "Code Red" Check out more detailed notes and stuff at http://subjecttochange.fm 

This Week: - Ben and Nigel both no longer believe in political polling - Polls can tell us what people think, but not why - Political polling's negative effects on Democracy Big Boy News Segment: - Alabama PBS refuses to air Mr. Ratburn's gay wedding - Alabama continues to earn garbage points for its garbage abortion laws - Milkshaking: the tastiest form of political protest? - Who is Rob Carbone and what is the Republican Party of Canada?

This Week: - Ben and Nigel dig deeper into the world of political polling - How are polls conducted? - Statistical illiteracy vs. problematic polling methods - Common methods of polling error - Do we even need political polling anyway? - How accurate has polling been historically? - Were the polls in 2016 inaccurate?  BONUS: - Mr. Ratburn is gay - Ben Shapiro gets owned on the BBC - An excess amount of fake ad reads this week