Archive for the ‘Debates’ Category
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Why progressives oppose Canada-EU trade deal
CETA is a sweeping constitution-style document that will restrict public policy options in areas as diverse as intellectual property rights, government procurement, food safety and environmental protection, financial regulation, the temporary movement of workers, and public services. While CETA’s safeguards for labour and the environment are mainly voluntary and weak, the investor protections are strong and fully enforceable.
Tags: economy, featured, globalization, ideology
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Is it a housing problem or an income problem?
A system that provided direct funding – income support – to people and families struggling to afford rent would be well within federal capacity to negotiate with the provinces and to administer, say, within existing tax and benefit systems. It would not discriminate among ownership tenures, location or region. Even better, beneficiaries could seek housing that serves their individual needs, not just wherever assisted housing happens to be built.
Tags: economy, homelessness, housing, ideology, participation, poverty, standard of living
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You know, this internet thing might turn out to be big [employment]
Technology has been replacing human labour since at least the days of the knitting machine… The past few decades have seen an endless series of blights that were supposed to condemn us to mass unemployment: downsizing, outsourcing, free trade, Dutch disease. And through it all the proportion of the adult population in employment has risen: from 57 per cent in 1976 to 62 per cent in 1989 to nearly 64 per cent at its latest peak, in 2008…
Tags: economy, ideology, immigration, participation, standard of living
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Next Economy: Flourishing in a Not-for-Profit World?
A not-for-profit world could create the space for us to acknowledge that human needs are complex, and that not all of them are best met by a marketplace driven by for-profit corporations. Rather than relying on the market to figure out how to meet those needs all the time, a not-for-profit world creates space for us to meet the portion of our needs outside of the market through more free time, stronger communities, more personal connection and generally higher levels of well being.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, privatization, standard of living, tax
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By ignoring free trade’s excesses, we lost those on the margins
At the core of these paradoxes is a conflict of globalization with national sovereignty, and their mutual conflict with democracy – something long understood by political scientists but until recently only dimly perceived by economists. Voters resist both free trade and immigration that threatens their jobs, and nations resist treaties that undermine their sovereignty – even when forgoing them carries an economic cost.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, immigration, multiculturalism, participation, standard of living
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Are we living in a social economy, or a precarious one?
Canada abounds with people who are helping to chart the future of work, but there are many more who struggle to find their places, to launch their ideas, to secure sufficient income. For those left behind, the economic and social effects can be profound and troubling. Pro-active and innovative university preparation is a critical piece of the puzzle, but more is needed: support from the business community, consumers and policy-makers to ensure that a generation isn’t lost.
Tags: economy, featured, globalization, ideology, participation, standard of living, youth
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Liberals defied global trend in reversing OAS age eligibility
The Liberal government reversed a policy to raise the eligibility age for Old Age Security to 67 in spite of arguments from bureaucrats that the move would be bucking a trend among developed countries. Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Britain and the United States are among the countries that plan to raise their equivalent pension ages to 67 or higher… The government has not yet produced a report outlining the long-term fiscal consequences of its recent policy changes, but it has promised to release one later this year.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, participation, pensions
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The case against privatizing Hydro One
Wynne is no privatization ideologue, but she wants to use about $4 billion of the proceeds from the privatization to build public transit and infrastructure. These things need to be built, but is the solution to sell off vital public assets in order to build new vital public assets? Or is it time to begin reversing the tax-cut binges of recent decades that have left provincial and federal cupboards bare, while bestowing tax savings mostly on corporations and the well-to-do?
Tags: budget, ideology, jurisdiction, privatization, tax
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Who Still Believes Postmedia Is Canadian-Controlled?
Postmedia’s escape from bankruptcy this week offers at least a tiny opportunity for critics who want the giant corporation’s grip on Canadian newspapers loosened… the U.S. hedge funds… get Postmedia at a discounted price… Our tax laws give Canadian-owned publications an advantage over foreign competitors… this week’s move gives the hedge fund lenders new shares equal to 98 per cent of the shares outstanding, further reducing the proportion of shares held by Canadians.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, privatization, tax
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Amid economic gloom, Canada needs to focus on what it does well
Frustration with the past cycle’s structural weaknesses and the current one’s sluggishness has prompted backlashes against globalization and the institutions and enterprises that support it… We have a number of the key pieces in place that position us to run into the global business void created by those who are backing off at precisely the wrong moment. And we can do all this by doing what we already do well, but on a wider front.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, participation, standard of living
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