Thaddeus Hwong
School of Administrative Studies
School of Public Policy and Administration
school-of-public-policy-and-administration
Associate Professor
Office: McLaughlin College, 232
Email: thwong@yorku.ca
Primary website: http://www.twitter.com/policyquests
Media Requests Welcome
Accepting New Graduate Students
Life does not have to be just a nexus of compromises.
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 fend off rent-seeking attacks against the well-being of all, I argue for more redistribution through progressive taxation and public expenditures.
Income inequality. Wealth inequality. Financial insecurity. Extreme poverty. Some say economic Darwinism epitomizes meritocracy, despite the fact that meritocracy was meant to be a dystopian satire.
Systemic racism. Gender discrimination. Wilful blindness to the existence of structural problems in society. Anti-woke propaganda streaming from an ever-expanding web of misinformation and disinformation. Some say this just world is not a fallacy, oblivious to lessons that could have been learnt during the pandemic.
With trepidation and humility, I argue for more redistribution of not only income and wealth but also economic and political power. If we don't want to kowtow to those with ginormous market power, and if we want no one to be left behind, we would need more redistribution.
Wait, really? Taking from the rich and then giving it to the poor is what Robin Hood does, and Robin Hood is not real. Thou shalt not commit to a fiscal policy revolution that will never come. Do not tax the rich. Forget inequality. Focus on poverty instead. With 90 seconds to midnight, 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.
Approach to Teaching
University education does not have to be merely transactional.
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. See the recast of universities as vending machines of diplomas, not as incubators of lifelong learning? The commodification is a feature, not a bug.
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?
Oh, we can't afford to do more, those who espouse the false necessity exclaim. Like how could we afford to house the unhoused, feed the unfed and comfort the unfortunate? In our world of abundance, the cognitive dissonance is pervasive.
Questioning the status quo is construed as subversive in our publicly funded classrooms. Defiance we should forgo, desensitized we shall be.
Coping with the grim reality, I try to hang onto any glimmer of hope 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. 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 only 90 seconds to midnight, my teaching would continue to encourage students not to be content to be just clones of a walking, talking emoji of the Dunning-Kruger effect. Reckon with the malaise in our zeitgeist. Take on the alternative facts in this post-truth world. Search for the best obtainable version of the truth even in the worst of times.
The Winter 2025 course of Canada's Labour Market Policy would argue that humans aren't just resources.
The Winter 2025 course of Business Statistics Through Applications would argue that the free market is actually not free.
The Fall/Winter 2024-25 seminar of Politics, Law and the Courts would argue that redistribution is about justice.
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 2025 | AP/ADMS2310 3.0 | M | Business Statistics Through Applications | ONLN |
| Winter 2025 | AP/PPAS3762 3.0 | M | Canada's Labour Market Policy | LECT |
| Fall/Winter 2024 | AP/PPAS4130 6.0 | A | Politics, Law and the Courts | ONLN |
Life does not have to be just a nexus of compromises.
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 fend off rent-seeking attacks against the well-being of all, I argue for more redistribution through progressive taxation and public expenditures.
Income inequality. Wealth inequality. Financial insecurity. Extreme poverty. Some say economic Darwinism epitomizes meritocracy, despite the fact that meritocracy was meant to be a dystopian satire.
Systemic racism. Gender discrimination. Wilful blindness to the existence of structural problems in society. Anti-woke propaganda streaming from an ever-expanding web of misinformation and disinformation. Some say this just world is not a fallacy, oblivious to lessons that could have been learnt during the pandemic.
With trepidation and humility, I argue for more redistribution of not only income and wealth but also economic and political power. If we don't want to kowtow to those with ginormous market power, and if we want no one to be left behind, we would need more redistribution.
Wait, really? Taking from the rich and then giving it to the poor is what Robin Hood does, and Robin Hood is not real. Thou shalt not commit to a fiscal policy revolution that will never come. Do not tax the rich. Forget inequality. Focus on poverty instead. With 90 seconds to midnight, 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
Approach to Teaching
University education does not have to be merely transactional.
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. See the recast of universities as vending machines of diplomas, not as incubators of lifelong learning? The commodification is a feature, not a bug.
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?
Oh, we can't afford to do more, those who espouse the false necessity exclaim. Like how could we afford to house the unhoused, feed the unfed and comfort the unfortunate? In our world of abundance, the cognitive dissonance is pervasive.
Questioning the status quo is construed as subversive in our publicly funded classrooms. Defiance we should forgo, desensitized we shall be.
Coping with the grim reality, I try to hang onto any glimmer of hope 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. 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 only 90 seconds to midnight, my teaching would continue to encourage students not to be content to be just clones of a walking, talking emoji of the Dunning-Kruger effect. Reckon with the malaise in our zeitgeist. Take on the alternative facts in this post-truth world. Search for the best obtainable version of the truth even in the worst of times.
The Winter 2025 course of Canada's Labour Market Policy would argue that humans aren't just resources.
The Winter 2025 course of Business Statistics Through Applications would argue that the free market is actually not free.
The Fall/Winter 2024-25 seminar of Politics, Law and the Courts would argue that redistribution is about justice.
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 2025 | AP/ADMS2310 3.0 | M | Business Statistics Through Applications | ONLN |
| Winter 2025 | AP/PPAS3762 3.0 | M | Canada's Labour Market Policy | LECT |
| Fall/Winter 2024 | AP/PPAS4130 6.0 | A | Politics, Law and the Courts | ONLN |
