Archive for the ‘Economy/Employment’ Category
New income support system must go beyond tinkering with EI
Tuesday, August 11th, 2020
… pushing hundreds of thousands of people into poverty would risk stalling the recovery that’s now underway. About half the jobs that were lost in the depths of the lockdown in April have already come back, and we can expect unemployment to keep falling. But if the purchasing power that was pumped into the economy through CERB is suddenly cut off, that could plunge the country into a prolonged recession.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, participation, poverty, standard of living
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Here’s a tip: It’s time to discuss how we pay workers in the service industry
Monday, August 10th, 2020
Embedding tips can solve some problems. First off, tipping clearly contributes to pay disparities among restaurant staff. Waiters often earn double what cooks earn, and hiring for back-of-house positions has been problematic for many restaurateurs. Studies have shown that tipping also promotes bias based on age, race, and gender…
Tags: economy, ideology
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Insiders say Justin Trudeau doesn’t want an election. He wants to seize the moment and push through bold change
Saturday, August 8th, 2020
… now is the time, with the cost of long-term borrowing so cheap due to historically low interest rates, to address those inequities for the longer term… Premiers may have been willing to put up with aggressive federal moves in areas of their jurisdiction during the emergency and restart phase of the pandemic, but it’s hard to see that lasting.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, standard of living, women
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Five good ideas for income supports in a post-CERB Canada
Friday, July 31st, 2020
… the notion that you can only have… a strong income support system or a thriving economy… is a false dichotomy, and our post-pandemic recovery requires us to move past this narrative… we need to fundamentally ensure that people with lived and living experience of poverty and income insecurity are at the centre of policy-making… Failing to put human rights at the centre of our efforts would be an abdication of our collective responsibility.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, participation, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Policy Context, Social Security Policy Context | No Comments »
How Canada won its first debt war
Friday, July 24th, 2020
[Post WW2] … North American manufacturing was in its heyday, trade liberalization was boosting exports and productivity, and the baby boom fuelled consumption. Today, protectionism is on the rise, and the aging of the baby boomers poses significant long-term problems for labour productivity… Stepped-up enforcement against tax evasion, an annual wealth tax and higher corporate income tax rates are needed…
Tags: economy, tax
Posted in History | No Comments »
CERB is dead, but a new EI will live, as the pandemic leads to more lasting policy changes
Wednesday, July 15th, 2020
the Liberals are looking to morph the CERB into a new EI… But melding CERB into EI won’t be simple… in a normal year, employment insurance pays benefits to less than 40 per cent of the unemployed. Some don’t work enough hours to qualify, but a lot more are ineligible because they never paid in, probably because they were self-employed or considered contractors. CERB covers far more people.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, participation, standard of living
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Tax us. Tax us. Tax us. Millionaires beg to be taxed more to help COVID relief
Monday, July 13th, 2020
Calling themselves the Millionaires for Humanity, more than 80 wealthy individuals… are petitioning for higher taxes on the rich to help pay for the billions in new government programs made necessary by the COVID-19 pandemic. “Today, we, the undersigned millionaires and billionaires, ask our governments to raise taxes on people like us. Immediately. Substantially. Permanently.” … Charity isn’t the answer.
Tags: economy, featured, Health, ideology, tax
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Parents, trapped: Lack of child care could undermine economic recovery and hurt women, but the solution is expensive
Sunday, July 12th, 2020
In normal times, daycare is much like a throttle for the engine of the economy. Increase the supply of spaces, and more women are able to work. Productivity rises, household incomes grow and consumer spending ticks up.
But the coronavirus threatens to throw that dynamic into reverse. A mass exodus of women from the work force would be unprecedented in recent decades… an enormous chunk of economic activity is at risk
Tags: budget, child care, economy, Health, jurisdiction, participation, standard of living, women
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There will be no ‘V-shaped recovery.’ But here’s how we can ensure the post-pandemic economy works for everyone
Sunday, July 5th, 2020
… well-directed public spending, particularly investments in the green transition, can be timely, labour-intensive (helping to resolve the problem of soaring unemployment) and highly stimulative – delivering far more bang for the buck than, say, tax cuts. There is no economic reason why countries… can’t adopt large, sustained recovery programs that will affirm – or move them closer to – the societies they claim to be.
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, standard of living
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Why we need to start spending on infrastructure, and fast
Thursday, July 2nd, 2020
The money lost by underemployed workers, businesses and governments is unlikely to be fully recovered… the longer we wait, the more assets permanently lose value… the effects of the pandemic on the economy will invariably reduce the ability of Canadians to finance the services and infrastructure they previously expected – a perverse dynamic that will only worsen with the duration of underemployment.
Tags: budget, economy, Health, ideology, participation, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
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