Rudyard Griffiths

As middle-class incomes stagnate in advanced economies while the rich experience record income gains, the 11th semi-annual Munk Debate pits wealth redistribution supporters Paul Krugman and George Papandreou against Newt Gingrich and Arthur Laffer to debate taxation -- should the rich pay more? For some the answer is obvious: redistribute the wealth of the top income earners who have enjoyed, for almost a generation, the lion's share of all income gains. Imposing higher taxes on the wealthy is the best way for countries such as Canada to reinvest in their social safety nets, education, and infrastructure while protecting the middle class. Others argue that anemic economic growth, not income inequality, is the real problem facing advanced countries. In a globalized economy, raising taxes on society's wealth creators leads to capital flight, falling government revenues, and less money for the poor. These same voices contend that lowering taxes on everyone stimulates innovation and investment, fueling future prosperity. With advanced countries facing overextended social services, crumbling infrastructure, and sluggish economic growth, this premiere debate series on economic inequality tackles the essential public policy issue: Should we tax the rich more?

Summary:"The twenty-first semi-annual Munk Debate, held on October 12th, 2017, pits award-winning journalist E.J. Dionne, Jr. and influential author and blogger Andrew Sullivan against former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich and bestselling author and editor Kimberley Strassel to debate the current crisis of American democracy."-- Back cover

"On November 4, 2008, Americans will choose their forty-fourth president. The wide-open primaries and presidential campaign have revolved around two of the most historically contentious issues in U.S. politics: race and the use of American power abroad." "Is America ready to elect an African American president? Or, for that matter, a woman? How will both parties re-imagine America's role in the world in the aftermath of the botched occupation of Iraq? And what are the implications for Canada of a Democratic or Republican victory?" "This book offers a written record of the talks that Camille Paglia, Shelby Steele, James Carville, and David Gergen gave, complete with the spirited, probing question and answer periods that followed."--book jacket.

Bear, Otter, and the Kid survived last summer with their hearts and souls intact. They’ve moved into the Green Monstrosity, and Bear is finally able to admit his love for the man who saved him from himself. But that's not the end of their story. How could it be? The boys find that life doesn’t stop just because they got their happily ever after. There’s still the custody battle for the Kid. The return of Otter’s parents. A first trip to a gay bar. The Kid goes to therapy, and Mrs. Paquinn decides that Bigfoot is real. Anna and Creed do… well, whatever it is Anna and Creed do. There are newfound jealousies, the return of old enemies, bad poetry, and misanthropic seagulls. And through it all, Bear struggles to understand his mother’s abandonment of him and his brother, only to delve deeper into their shared past. What he finds there will alter their lives forever and help him realize what it'll take to become who they're supposed to be. Family is not always defined by blood. It’s defined by those who make us whole—those who make us who we are.

Summary:For the first time in history, will it be better to be a woman than a man in the upcoming century? The twelfth semi-annual Munk Debate pits renowned author and editorHanna Rosin and Pulitzer Prizewinning columnist Maureen Dowd against New York Timesbestselling author Caitlin Moran and academic trailblazer Camille Paglia to debate one of the biggest socio-economic phenomena of our time the relative decline of the power and status of men in the workplace, in the family, and society at large. Men have traditionally been the dominant sex. But now, for the first time, a host of indicators suggests that women not only are achieving equality with men, but are fast emerging as the more successful sex of the species. Whether in education, employment, personal health, or child rearing, statistics point to a rise in the status and power of women at home, in the workplace, and in traditional male bastions such as politics. But are men, and the age-old power structures associated with maleness, permanently in decline? With women increasingly demonstrating their ability to have it all while men lag behind, the Munk Debate on gender tackles the essential socio-economic question: Are men obsolete?-WorldCat

Summary:On June 17, 2011, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and CNN's Fareed Zakaria squared off against leading historian Niall Ferguson and world-renowned Chinese economist David Daokui Li to debate the biggest geopolitical issue of our time: Does the 21st century belong to China?-WorldCat

"Does government surveillance make us safer? The thirteenth Munk Debate, held in Toronto on Friday, May 2, 2014, pitted Michael Hayden and Alan Dershowitz against Glenn Greenwald and Alexis Ohanian to debate whether state surveillance is a legitimate defence of our freedom — the democratic issue of the moment. In a risk-filled world, democracies are increasingly turning to large-scale state surveillance, at home and abroad, to fight complex and unconventional threats — but is it justified? For some, the threats more than justify the current surveillance system, and the laws and institutions of democracies are more than capable of balancing the needs of individual privacy with collective security. But for others, we are in peril of sacrificing to a vast and unaccountable state surveillance apparatus the civil liberties that guarantee citizens’ basic freedoms and our democratic way of life."--

Summary:"On November 26, 2010, intellectual juggernaut and staunch atheist Christopher Hitchens went head-to-head with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, one of the Western world's most openly devout political leaders, on the highly charged topic of religion. In this edition of The Munk Debates ... Hitchens and Blair square off on the contentious questions that continue to dog the topic of religion in our globalized world: How does faith influence our actions? What is the role of people of faith in the public sphere? Does religion fuel conflict between and within nations? For the first time ever, this exclusive debate, which played to a sold-out audience, is now available in print, along with candid interviews with both debaters. Sharp, provocative, and thoroughly engrossing, Hitchens vs Blair is a rigorous and electrifying intellectual sparring match on the oldest question: Is religion a force for good in the world?"--Cover

Summary:From Ukraine to the Middle East to China, the United States is redefining its role in international affairs. Alliance building, public diplomacy, and eschewing traditional warfare in favor of the focused use of hard power such as drones and special forces are all hallmarks of the so-called Obama Doctrine. Is this a farsighted foreign policy for the United States and the world in the twenty-first century -- one that acknowledges and embraces the increasing diffusion of power among states and non-state actors? Or, is an America "leading from behind" a boon for the nations and blocs who want to roll back economic globalization, international law, and the spread of democracy and human rights? In this edition of the 14th semi-annual Munk Debates, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bret Stephens and famed historian and foreign policy commentator Robert Kagan square off against CNN's Fareed Zakaria and noted academic and political commentator Anne-Marie Slaughter. With ISIS looking to reshape the Middle East, Russia increasingly at odds with the rest of the West, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at a standstill, the Munk Debate on U.S. Foreign Policy asks: Has Obama's foreign policy taken the U.S. in the right direction?--Provided by publisher