Archive for the ‘Economy/Employment’ Category
Do pandemic income supports encourage people to stay off work? Of course — and that could be a good thing
Friday, June 4th, 2021
… this could really shake up capitalism for the better. How? If workers choose to stay in bed, employers might (rationally) choose to entice them back with higher wages… Higher pay though would also narrow the equality gap… People just don’t like bed that much. In fact, they like work, especially if it involves some satisfaction.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, standard of living
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Governments paid billions to help develop COVID-19 vaccines — so why is Big Pharma charging us billions more for the vaccines we helped create?
Thursday, June 3rd, 2021
If we think of war profiteers as being lower than a snake’s belly, what are we to make of the drug industry’s pandemic profiteers? … Canada, like other government funders in this global crisis, is not expecting to recover its costs in funding COVID-related medicine… governments that fund research that is used in lucrative commercial drug production must demand a return on their investment.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, globalization, Health, pharmaceutical, privatization
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The Care Economy Statement
Tuesday, May 25th, 2021
This statement… is a call to recognize that good care is crucial to our health and well-being as individuals and as a society; it is the critical social infrastructure that delivers overall economic stability and growth; and it is a shared responsibility, not just a personal one. This requires a shift from thinking of care as an expenditure to understanding it as an economic driver through investment in people and good jobs.
Tags: child care, economy, featured, Health, ideology, standard of living
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Beware Economists Bearing Policy Paradigms
Tuesday, May 25th, 2021
The ideas dominant since the 1980s – variously called the Washington Consensus, market fundamentalism, or neoliberalism – originally gained traction because of the perceived failures of Keynesianism and excessive government regulation. But they took on a life of their own and produced highly financialized, unequal, and unstable economies that were unequipped to cope with today’s most significant challenges: climate change, social inclusion, and disruptive new technologies.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, poverty, privatization, standard of living, tax
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Closing Ottawa’s Tax Gap Not A Silver Bullet Post-Covid
Tuesday, May 18th, 2021
With the federal government projecting swelling budget deficits in the Fall Economic Statement and then the 2021 Budget due to pandemic relief measures, the debate is shifting to the revenue raising measures needed to pay for them. However, “closing the tax gap should not be considered a silver bullet to deal with burgeoning federal debt” notes Richard Bird, an eminent tax scholar.
Tags: budget, economy, tax
Posted in Delivery System | No Comments »
All in this together? Greedy CEOs and corporations abuse our trust
Tuesday, May 11th, 2021
… many top Canadian CEOs saw their compensation soar in pandemic year 2020… Companies that got CEWS money when they didn’t really need it may well have followed the rules as they were written. But the government shouldn’t simply ignore abuse. It should call out companies, especially big ones, that violated the spirit of the program. It should see if any of those millions that went to companies that didn’t need them can be recovered. And it should tighten the rules for the remainder of the life of the program.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, privatization
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Business groups frustrated as sick leave debate carries on
Wednesday, April 28th, 2021
While businesses — and some governments — are inclined to focus on the upfront cost of providing paid sick leave, there are solid business arguments to make for supporting it… “You can be closed down if there’s an outbreak. That’s a huge cost for a business”… Slowing COVID’s spread will also make it possible for the economy to open up sooner and more reliably…
Tags: budget, economy, Health, ideology, standard of living
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It’s time to abolish tipping once and for all
Wednesday, April 28th, 2021
“The removal of tipping cannot happen in most restaurants, on their own, in the current marketplace, where all their competition practises tipping… the only way to really get rid of tipping is through government policy. So it’s an even playing field for everybody….” Now, in a largely cashless environment with drastically reduced gross sales, it’s servers who stand to immediately benefit from being paid a wage rather than relying on tips.
Tags: economy, ideology, standard of living
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How to create a paid sick leave plan for Ontario
Thursday, April 22nd, 2021
The goal of any sick leave program is, above all, to allow people who have COVID-19, have been exposed to it, or think they may have it, to stay home and not spread the disease to their co-workers. Nothing else matters… any program must be just as simple and straightforward as the existing sick leave plans 40% of us enjoy… paid sick leave legislation need not be complicated: it has existed before in Ontario, and very recently
Tags: budget, economy, featured, Health, standard of living
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As med students, we’ve seen how Ontario’s lack of paid sick days has hurt low-income, racialized workers. More than 600 of us demand change
Thursday, April 15th, 2021
Without suitable paid sick leave, essential workers who are symptomatic or have been exposed are faced with an impossible decision: follow public health measures by staying home or go to work to put food on the table and bring the virus into their homes and communities… Ontario needs a robust and comprehensive provincial paid sick leave program that is universal to all workers in Ontario, proactive, and easily accessible.
Tags: budget, economy, Health, ideology, standard of living
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