Thaddeus Hwong
School of Public Policy and Administration
Associate Professor
Office: McLaughlin College, 232
Phone: 416-736-2100 Ext: 20537
Email: thwong@yorku.ca
Primary website: http://www.twitter.com/policyquests
Media Requests Welcome
Accepting New Graduate Students
We live in a plutocracy in which the dominant class imposes the austerity of human decency on all of us. Leave-no-one-behind will enslave you, but everyone-for-oneself will set you free. Is that world the best of all possible worlds?
To help sort out the just world fallacy anchored on alternative facts, I aspire to advance the public discourse about redistribution in light of the battle of ideas on the costs and benefits of progressive taxation and public expenditures, the political willingness to level the playing field between the Haves and Have-nots and the policy options to hold the economic elites accountable to democratic ideals.
Income inequality. Wealth inequality. Financial insecurity. Extreme poverty. Some say that epitomizes the meritocracy we live in, even meritocracy was originally meant to be a satire.
Systemic racism. Gender discrimination. Wilful blindness of those who refuse to even acknowledge that structural problems exist. Propaganda streaming from an ever-overreaching web of misinformation and disinformation. Some say it is what it is, oblivious to lessons that could have been learnt during the pandemic.
Are we still standing idly by? Or are we willing to make our world a better place?
With trepidation and humility, I explore the political economy of redistribution. Redistribution is not only about the just distribution of income and wealth but also about the just distribution of economic and political power. If we don't want our lives to be dominated by those with ginormous market power, and if we don't want to be held hostage in a grim subsistence in which those who are less lucky are left behind, we would need more redistribution.
The orthodoxy says taking from the rich and then giving it to the poor is what Robin Hood does, and Robin Hood is not real so we should forget trying to tax the rich more. Thus, the orthodoxy says let's focus on what's practical -- let's give up on reducing inequality and instead focus on reducing poverty as we should not commit to a fiscal policy revolution that will never come. Many luminaries have been calling for change, but their actions have been protecting the inertia. Given all the exploitation and deprivation, doing what has been done in order not to rock the boat won't cut it. If a fiscal policy revolution is what is needed, why shouldn't we argue for one?
Public policy making should not be of the affluent, for the affluent and by the affluent. With more redistribution, genuine shared governance of our democracy could have a fighting chance, and a better tomorrow may be in sight.
Degrees
PhD, Osgoode Hall Law School, York UniversityLLB, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
MS, Columbia Journalism School, Columbia University
BA, Economics, York University
Research Interests
Current Research Projects
-
Summary:
Quests to advance redistributive policies, one data point at a time.
Description:Political economy -- the pursuit of distributive justice.
(2022). Tackling Poverty or Inequality? You Don’t Have to Choose. In Raju J. Das and Deepak K. Mishra (Eds.), Global Poverty: Rethinking Causality. Leiden|Boston: Brill.
With Brooks, Neil. (2017) Personal Tax Expenditures in the Canadian Income Tax Act – The First 100 Years. In Jinyan Li, J. Scott Wilkie, and Larry E. Chapman (Eds.), Income Tax at 100 Years. Toronto: Canadian Tax Foundation.
(2013) Tax Levels, Tax Mixes and Income Redistribution in Canada and Selected OECD Countries Since Carter. In Kim Brooks (Ed.) The Quest for Tax Reform Continues: The Royal Commission on Taxation Fifty Years Later. Toronto: Carswell.
(2011) The Distributional Effects of Making Personal Income Tax Credits Refundable. In Lisa Philipps, Neil Brooks, and Jinyan Li (Eds.), Tax Expenditures: State of the Art. Toronto: Canadian Tax Foundation.
With Haigh, Richard. (2022). Indexing Influences of Supreme Court of Canada Interveners: A Preliminary Examination,” Annual Review of Civil Litigation, 63-99.
With Li, Jinyan. (2020). GAAR in Action: An Empirical Study of Transaction Types and Judicial Attributes in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Canadian Tax Journal, 68(2) 539-79.
With Li, Jinyan. (2013) . GAAR in Action: An Empirical Exploration of Tax Court of Canada Cases (1997-2009) and Judicial Decision Making. Canadian Tax Journal, 61(2), 321-366.
With Brooks, Neil. (2010) . Tax Ratios, Tax Mixes, and Tax Reforms: Convergence and Persistence.Theoretical Inquires in Law, 11(2), 791-821.
(2009) . A Quantitative Exploration of Judicial Decision Making in Supreme Court of Canada in Income Tax Cases in 1920-2003. Manitoba Law Journal, 33(1), 150-196.
With Hanlon, Dean. (2008) . The Effect of External Advisors on the GST Compliance Costs of Businesses in Australia.Asia-Pacific Journal of Taxation, 12(2), 93-108.
(2004) . A Review of Quantitative Studies of Decision Making in the Supreme Court of Canada. Manitoba Law Journal, 30(3), 353-382.
(Aug. 13, 2018) The Public’s Fickle Opinion About More Tax Cuts. Tax Notes, 975-981.
With Mellor, Peter, & Krever, Richard. (2012) . Tax Treaty Trends in Central Asian Former Soviet Nations. Bulletin for International Taxation, 66 (10), 541-552.
(March 2, 2009) . How Canada's Flat Tax Debate Played in the Press: A Case Study. Tax Notes International, 767-775.
With Brooks, Neil. (2006). The Social Benefits and Economic Costs of Taxation: A Comparison of High- and Low-tax Countries. Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Approach to Teaching
Maybe I am not realistic, but I still believe education is supposed to enlighten, not to indoctrinate to conform.
In our society, everywhere you look there is mounting pressure on everyone to do whatever it takes for individual "success," often in terms of fame and fortune but rarely in terms of the well-being of all. Far too many see university only as a vending machine for diplomas so graduates can get a job, not as a catalyst for lifelong learning so graduates can pursue the common good.
Tackling the myopia of complacency is a starting point to make the world better for all. Does it have to be this way? What do we want to do about it? What could we do about it given what we know?
Realistically, raising those questions is subversive even in our publicly funded classrooms. We can't afford to do more, those who want us to believe that claim. What could we do about the astigmatism of false necessity?
Coping with the grim reality, I try to hang onto any glimmer of hope -- more likely out of desperation than anything else -- that education can change lives for the better for all. If students want, they can learn to become a part of the solutions rather than a part of the problems in our society. If students want, they can learn to design their purposeful lives. But even if students do not want to learn much from coursework, they can still learn to think not just about themselves but also about others.
With a backdrop of having survived a historic crisis of human follies together, my teaching would continue to seek to encourage students to make sense of the malaise in our world independently without malice.
The Fall/Winter 2023-24 seminar of Politics, Law and the Courts would push the boundaries of the search for justice beyond the confines of the reproduction of hierarchies and the entrenchment of the establishment. Given the apathy toward economic injustices lurking behind our rule of law, is our legal system a justice system?
The Winter 2024 course of Canada's Labour Market Policy would take on the arrogance for cruelty in public policy agenda setting. The routine of first flashing hopes that no one would be left behind and then crushing them is cruel. The practice of defending that by saying it's for the best is arrogant. Is meritocracy the culprit?
The Winter 2024 course of Business Statistics Through Applications would decode seemingly scientific misinformation and disinformation to debunk the free market myths. Is economic freedom worse than a white lie as it is actually about capitalism without democracy?
Questioning the status quo is our responsibility, and asking ourselves whether we can do better for all is our obligation. Caring begins with understanding, and with that then not all is lost.
Current Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter 2024 | AP/PPAS3762 3.0 | M | Canada's Labour Market Policy | LECT |
| Winter 2024 | AP/ADMS2310 3.0 | M | Business Statistics Through Applications | ONLN |
| Fall/Winter 2023 | AP/PPAS4130 6.0 | A | Politics, Law and the Courts | ONLN |
We live in a plutocracy in which the dominant class imposes the austerity of human decency on all of us. Leave-no-one-behind will enslave you, but everyone-for-oneself will set you free. Is that world the best of all possible worlds?
To help sort out the just world fallacy anchored on alternative facts, I aspire to advance the public discourse about redistribution in light of the battle of ideas on the costs and benefits of progressive taxation and public expenditures, the political willingness to level the playing field between the Haves and Have-nots and the policy options to hold the economic elites accountable to democratic ideals.
Income inequality. Wealth inequality. Financial insecurity. Extreme poverty. Some say that epitomizes the meritocracy we live in, even meritocracy was originally meant to be a satire.
Systemic racism. Gender discrimination. Wilful blindness of those who refuse to even acknowledge that structural problems exist. Propaganda streaming from an ever-overreaching web of misinformation and disinformation. Some say it is what it is, oblivious to lessons that could have been learnt during the pandemic.
Are we still standing idly by? Or are we willing to make our world a better place?
With trepidation and humility, I explore the political economy of redistribution. Redistribution is not only about the just distribution of income and wealth but also about the just distribution of economic and political power. If we don't want our lives to be dominated by those with ginormous market power, and if we don't want to be held hostage in a grim subsistence in which those who are less lucky are left behind, we would need more redistribution.
The orthodoxy says taking from the rich and then giving it to the poor is what Robin Hood does, and Robin Hood is not real so we should forget trying to tax the rich more. Thus, the orthodoxy says let's focus on what's practical -- let's give up on reducing inequality and instead focus on reducing poverty as we should not commit to a fiscal policy revolution that will never come. Many luminaries have been calling for change, but their actions have been protecting the inertia. Given all the exploitation and deprivation, doing what has been done in order not to rock the boat won't cut it. If a fiscal policy revolution is what is needed, why shouldn't we argue for one?
Public policy making should not be of the affluent, for the affluent and by the affluent. With more redistribution, genuine shared governance of our democracy could have a fighting chance, and a better tomorrow may be in sight.
Degrees
PhD, Osgoode Hall Law School, York UniversityLLB, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
MS, Columbia Journalism School, Columbia University
BA, Economics, York University
Research Interests
Current Research Projects
-
Summary:
Quests to advance redistributive policies, one data point at a time.
Description:Political economy -- the pursuit of distributive justice.
Role: Principal investigatorAll Publications
(2022). Tackling Poverty or Inequality? You Don’t Have to Choose. In Raju J. Das and Deepak K. Mishra (Eds.), Global Poverty: Rethinking Causality. Leiden|Boston: Brill.
With Brooks, Neil. (2017) Personal Tax Expenditures in the Canadian Income Tax Act – The First 100 Years. In Jinyan Li, J. Scott Wilkie, and Larry E. Chapman (Eds.), Income Tax at 100 Years. Toronto: Canadian Tax Foundation.
(2013) Tax Levels, Tax Mixes and Income Redistribution in Canada and Selected OECD Countries Since Carter. In Kim Brooks (Ed.) The Quest for Tax Reform Continues: The Royal Commission on Taxation Fifty Years Later. Toronto: Carswell.
(2011) The Distributional Effects of Making Personal Income Tax Credits Refundable. In Lisa Philipps, Neil Brooks, and Jinyan Li (Eds.), Tax Expenditures: State of the Art. Toronto: Canadian Tax Foundation.
With Haigh, Richard. (2022). Indexing Influences of Supreme Court of Canada Interveners: A Preliminary Examination,” Annual Review of Civil Litigation, 63-99.
With Li, Jinyan. (2020). GAAR in Action: An Empirical Study of Transaction Types and Judicial Attributes in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Canadian Tax Journal, 68(2) 539-79.
With Li, Jinyan. (2013) . GAAR in Action: An Empirical Exploration of Tax Court of Canada Cases (1997-2009) and Judicial Decision Making. Canadian Tax Journal, 61(2), 321-366.
With Brooks, Neil. (2010) . Tax Ratios, Tax Mixes, and Tax Reforms: Convergence and Persistence.Theoretical Inquires in Law, 11(2), 791-821.
(2009) . A Quantitative Exploration of Judicial Decision Making in Supreme Court of Canada in Income Tax Cases in 1920-2003. Manitoba Law Journal, 33(1), 150-196.
With Hanlon, Dean. (2008) . The Effect of External Advisors on the GST Compliance Costs of Businesses in Australia.Asia-Pacific Journal of Taxation, 12(2), 93-108.
(2004) . A Review of Quantitative Studies of Decision Making in the Supreme Court of Canada. Manitoba Law Journal, 30(3), 353-382.
(Aug. 13, 2018) The Public’s Fickle Opinion About More Tax Cuts. Tax Notes, 975-981.
With Mellor, Peter, & Krever, Richard. (2012) . Tax Treaty Trends in Central Asian Former Soviet Nations. Bulletin for International Taxation, 66 (10), 541-552.
(March 2, 2009) . How Canada's Flat Tax Debate Played in the Press: A Case Study. Tax Notes International, 767-775.
With Brooks, Neil. (2006). The Social Benefits and Economic Costs of Taxation: A Comparison of High- and Low-tax Countries. Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Approach to Teaching
Maybe I am not realistic, but I still believe education is supposed to enlighten, not to indoctrinate to conform.
In our society, everywhere you look there is mounting pressure on everyone to do whatever it takes for individual "success," often in terms of fame and fortune but rarely in terms of the well-being of all. Far too many see university only as a vending machine for diplomas so graduates can get a job, not as a catalyst for lifelong learning so graduates can pursue the common good.
Tackling the myopia of complacency is a starting point to make the world better for all. Does it have to be this way? What do we want to do about it? What could we do about it given what we know?
Realistically, raising those questions is subversive even in our publicly funded classrooms. We can't afford to do more, those who want us to believe that claim. What could we do about the astigmatism of false necessity?
Coping with the grim reality, I try to hang onto any glimmer of hope -- more likely out of desperation than anything else -- that education can change lives for the better for all. If students want, they can learn to become a part of the solutions rather than a part of the problems in our society. If students want, they can learn to design their purposeful lives. But even if students do not want to learn much from coursework, they can still learn to think not just about themselves but also about others.
With a backdrop of having survived a historic crisis of human follies together, my teaching would continue to seek to encourage students to make sense of the malaise in our world independently without malice.
The Fall/Winter 2023-24 seminar of Politics, Law and the Courts would push the boundaries of the search for justice beyond the confines of the reproduction of hierarchies and the entrenchment of the establishment. Given the apathy toward economic injustices lurking behind our rule of law, is our legal system a justice system?
The Winter 2024 course of Canada's Labour Market Policy would take on the arrogance for cruelty in public policy agenda setting. The routine of first flashing hopes that no one would be left behind and then crushing them is cruel. The practice of defending that by saying it's for the best is arrogant. Is meritocracy the culprit?
The Winter 2024 course of Business Statistics Through Applications would decode seemingly scientific misinformation and disinformation to debunk the free market myths. Is economic freedom worse than a white lie as it is actually about capitalism without democracy?
Questioning the status quo is our responsibility, and asking ourselves whether we can do better for all is our obligation. Caring begins with understanding, and with that then not all is lost.
Current Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter 2024 | AP/PPAS3762 3.0 | M | Canada's Labour Market Policy | LECT |
| Winter 2024 | AP/ADMS2310 3.0 | M | Business Statistics Through Applications | ONLN |
| Fall/Winter 2023 | AP/PPAS4130 6.0 | A | Politics, Law and the Courts | ONLN |
