Archive for the ‘Debates’ Category
« Older Entries | Newer Entries »
Why relying on GDP is unethical
since the GDP only values certain types of economic activity, it presents a fundamentally distorted and dishonest picture of the economy… Unpacking what the GDP “values” and “doesn’t value” shows why we need a new model and new language to identify and describe positive economic activity if we are to properly measure and enhance the well being… So the next time you hear “GDP,” don’t think “gross domestic product,” think “generating deceptive propaganda,” because that’s exactly what’s going on.
Tags: economy, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
The Lion’s Share: Pension deficits and shareholder payments among Canada’s largest companies
This study examines the status of the defined benefit (DB) pension plans of Canada’s largest publicly-traded companies. Thirty-nine companies on the S&P/TSX 60 maintain DB pension plans, amounting to one-third of all private sector pension plan assets in Canada. However, only nine plans were fully funded in 2016. Together, the 39 companies oversaw a $10.8 billion deficit in their pension plans in 2016, while increasing shareholder payouts from $31.9 billion in 2011 to $46.9 billion last year.
Tags: economy, ideology, pensions, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Is an economic ‘golden age’ on the horizon?
Each cycle proceeds in roughly the same stages: New technology is developed (often, as with the internet, through government and military spending), an investment bubble follows, the bubble bursts, then the technology is disseminated through the economy, raising productivity levels and aggregate wealth… this stage, when the benefits of new technology spread throughout the economy, is characterized by strong economic growth and widely dispersed prosperity.
Tags: economy, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Community capitalism: A path to prosperity for First Nations
Community capitalism generates so-called “own-source revenues” (OSR) – money that First Nations earn for themselves rather than receive from government transfers. We estimate that the total amount of OSR is now in excess of $3-billion a year (some First Nations do not make public reports). That’s a significant amount compared with the roughly $5.5-billion transferred to the same First Nations by governments in fiscal 2015-16.
Tags: economy, featured, Indigenous, jurisdiction, participation, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
The real pirates of the Caribbean
… regardless of whether or not most tax haven users are withholding their taxes illegally, surely there is a more troubling moral and ethical factor to consider. It has to do with the ability of so many people to get away with not paying their taxes. They can do so because they’re rich. They can afford the expensive advice of high-priced lawyers and accountants who can exploit convenient loopholes and ambiguities in the tax laws. This explains the vast amount of taxes owed that never get collected.
Tags: budget, economy, globalization, participation, standard of living, tax
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Offshore tax havens are harmful to all Canadians
… our federal leaders are so beholden to Canada’s richest men — their chief fundraisers — that substantive crackdowns on these schemes are being prorogued. These tax evasions are a spit in the eye to the Liberals’ fabled “middle class,” let alone to the 12 million Canadians who collectively own less than our richest 100 families… It seems that democracy is on sale. The rich families finance politicians to fight elections and, as a quid pro quo, politicians protect their wealth through favourable legislation.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, privatization, standard of living, tax
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
How will governments solve the tax haven riddle?
The entry price for these offshore structures means that they’re beyond the reach of everyone except those whom the industry refers to as UHNWIs — ultra high net worth individuals. In fact, the majority of wealth in tax havens belongs to those worth more than $50 million. These legal offshore tax shelters reserved for the elite create a two-tiered tax system — where the wealthy stockpile their cash tax free and everyone else pays to make up for it.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, privatization, standard of living, tax
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
‘Reserve army’ of precariously employed keeps lid on wages
The best explanation for very soft inflation in Canada is probably continued slack in the job market. The Bank of Canada does note… the continuing very low participation rate for young people, suggesting we are still short of a tight job market… wage pressures and inflation might remain persistently low even with a low unemployment rate due to the seemingly inexorable rise of precarious work.
Tags: economy, participation, poverty, standard of living, women, youth
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Federal government can and must put pensioners first
The federal government can and must ensure bankruptcy laws put pensioners at the front of the line. And it can go one very important step further: working with the provinces and territories to create Canada-wide mandatory pension insurance. Such a system would guarantee monthly pensions up to $2,500 whenever an employer with an underfunded pension plan… It would be paid for by pension funds, a fair trade-off, given their tax-exempt status.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, pensions, rights, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Kids short-changed
So, Royal Bank of Canada economist Josh Nye and Bank of Montreal chief economist Doug Porter would prefer smaller deficits… Did they not notice that the 2016 census demonstrated that a shocking 17 per cent of Canadian children live in poverty? Do they not understand that… child poverty is a strong drag on economic growth and that child benefits are necessary to decrease child poverty and economic growth? How far away is Bay Street from the real world that Canadians experience?
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, participation, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Recent Comments