Health care costs our single most pressing budget item
Tuesday, March 1st, 2011
Mar. 01, 2011
Ottawa and the provinces will ring up combined deficits of roughly $100-billion this year. The provincial share of that is slightly less than $50-billion… Health care accounts for 42 cents of every dollar the provinces spend (even more in Ontario). And those costs are rising at a rate of 6.7 per cent a year, which roughly matches the current escalation in federal transfers… Per capita use of the latest drugs, surgeries and diagnostic tools is increasing more for seniors than for younger people… Aging also has a profound effect on the ability of governments to raise money via the income tax system.
Tags: budget, Health
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »
Canada holds a losing hand in the arbitration game
Monday, February 21st, 2011
Feb. 21, 2011
The London Court of International Arbitration… Unlike a traditional court, there are fewer built-in safeguards to protect the organization’s independence… Its judges are paid by the parties who use the court, and they’re assigned at the discretion of the court, rather than by lottery or rotation… Critics say the court’s structure serves the interests of the international arbitration business first and defendants such as Canada second. As a result, the court might not be the friendliest venue in which to duke it out with the United States, which accounts for roughly half of all arbitration cases.
Tags: economy, globalization, rights, standard of living
Posted in Debates, Policy Context | 3 Comments »
Why oil (not cars) drives the economy
Monday, February 7th, 2011
Feb. 07, 2011
Canada’s fortunes – and its currency – are now more closely tethered to oil than any other industry, including autos, forest products or agriculture… The oil and gas sector is now the dominant industrial contributor to Canada’s economy… Crude accounts for 20 per cent of Canadian exports, double its share in 2000… The energy-producing regions of the country gain wealth, population and influence. And some of the traditional haves of Confederation, including Ontario, look increasingly like have-nots, tied to a shrinking manufacturing sector.
Tags: economy, globalization, standard of living
Posted in Debates | 1 Comment »
‘Stunning loss’ of Canadian market share in U.S.: report
Saturday, December 18th, 2010
December 17, 2010
Canada, Mr. Rangasamy says, has suffered a “stunning loss of market share” in the United States for exports of most goods, with the exception of a clutch of resources. He blames the high Canadian dollar and the shift towards a service economy and away from manufacturing. Services, while more sheltered from global competition, are also inherently less exportable… The numbers are devastating… The lost market share represents billions of dollars worth of exports that may never come back… This all puts intense pressure on Canadian manufacturers to become much more productive.
Tags: economy, globalization, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Lessons from the recession
Tuesday, November 16th, 2010
November 16, 2010
The Conference Board of Canada has a new book out Tuesday, Crisis and Intervention Lessons From the Financial Meltdown and Recession. The book is a compilation of post mortem reflections by the private think tank’s economists about the recent crisis. Among the dominant themes is that governments still have a vital role to play…. Here’s a quick rundown of board’s key findings:
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
Gap between rich and poor won’t be closing any time soon
Tuesday, October 5th, 2010
Oct. 04, 2010
Between the mid-1990s and the mid-2000s, income inequality grew faster in Canada than in all but one of 17 leading developed countries, according to the Conference Board of Canada’s 2010 performance report. And yet we don’t like to acknowledge inequality, in spite of its obvious link to poverty, crime and other social problems. Many people may be oblivious to the fact that it even exists.
Tags: ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
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