Archive for the ‘Debates’ Category
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Crucial lessons from Brexit vote and rise of Trump
The untold story is that entire swaths of our populations in Western countries have been left behind. Those without the privilege of higher education or access to a fluid employment market are struggling. It remains exceptionally challenging to find steady employment and, for many, the future remains unclear… many turn away from institutions they believe have guided them down this path…
Tags: economy, featured, globalization, ideology, participation, privatization, standard of living
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Ottawa needs to free Canada from interprovincial trade barriers
Trying to cajole or charm the provinces into giving up their barriers voluntarily is an exercise in futility… Real reform must come from Ottawa… Ottawa has the constitutional power to introduce a sweeping statute – an economic charter of rights – to ensure that no government rules or policies unnecessarily restrict the free movement of goods, services, labour and capital, and give individual citizens clear legal remedies against such restrictions.
Tags: economy, globalization, jurisdiction, participation, standard of living
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As Three Amigos meet, unfinished trade business
the true foundation for trade… is labour, and the forging of NAFTA then and the state of labour today is a story of unfinished business… The TPP will, if ratified, tie in countries that bear the hallmarks of Mexico then and now – Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei — in the realm of cheap (and child) labour and inadequate worker protections… NAFTA stands, in fact, as a shining example of how not to affirm labour rights, which didn’t even make it into the primary document.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, participation, standard of living
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We kicked around the working class. With Brexit, they’re kicking back
This was a referendum on a failed economic regime that has been unable and unwilling to provide for all its citizens as opposed to the very few. Voting to remain in the EU was seen as a tacit approval of the institutional status quo… Since the early 1980s, the focus of policy has been privatization, deregulation and liberalization. As a result, profits have soared, but wages have remained stagnant at best. Income inequality has increased to levels not seen since the 1920s.
Tags: economy, featured, globalization, ideology, rights, standard of living
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Why the government should actively pursue a trade deal with China
… trade agreements typically usher in economic reforms that, over time, transform the daily lives of citizens, exposing them to greater opportunities, material abundance and global ideas. Eventually, this leads voters to demand greater political and social rights… By increasing a country’s fiscal capacity, trade liberalization increases the government’s ability to underwrite programs that actually support and enforce human rights.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, rights, standard of living
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Calculating Sudbury’s living wage
… a living wage, reflects what earners in a family must bring home based on the actual costs of living in a specific community, calculated as an hourly rate at which households can meet their basic needs… Living wages for… Ontario cities range from Grey-Bruce and Brantford, at $14.77 and $14.85 respectively, to the Niagara Region at $17.47 and Toronto at $18.52… “Generally, it’s about the well-being of the population as a whole and income security is one of those social determinants of health, that impacts on the individual’s well-being, the family and the community as a whole.”
Tags: economy, featured, Health, ideology, participation, standard of living
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Re: Say no to more trade deals
The IMF and the OECD have found that the neoliberal policies not only didn’t deliver economic growth but they deepened inequality due to the same policies that were supposed to bring prosperity – i.e. tax deductions, privatizations, deregulations, trade union busting and rising rents. / The simple truth is that we need trade and we need trade deals. Canada’s economy depends on exports more so than most.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, participation, standard of living
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Here’s the downside to the sharing economy
An explosion of technology platforms is joining the buyers and sellers of goods and services in new electronic marketplaces… “Technology-enabled marketplaces” may be a better characterization of the trend. Much of the labour market is morphing into freelance or gigs… Workers increasingly are juggling two, three or more casual jobs. Exhaustion and stress take their toll on health as the working day gets longer and precious family time erodes.
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, standard of living, youth
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Say no to more trade deals
… deals (they’re rarely called ‘free trade’ deals any more, just trade) written in secret with only corporate figures present alongside governments — versus workers,’ women’s’ or native organizations, environmentalists: basically everybody else — will reflect guess whose interests? … The chief argument… is that they raised wage levels in poor countries… there’s some truth to that but why does it fall solely on Western workers’ families to pay the price for such progress through their own desperate decline while the rich soar to levels never known before?
Tags: economy, featured, globalization, ideology, privatization, rights, standard of living
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Bold Reforms Needed for Business Tax System – Leading Tax Experts
“The problem is most capital income can be sheltered and therefore the system is not meeting its intended goal… The current system also places most of the tax burden on labour and distorts firms’ investment decisions, financing decisions, risk-taking and innovation efforts. The system desperately needs reform.” The authors recommend changing the tax base from shareholder income to above-normal profits, or revenues above the normal costs of doing business.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, privatization, standard of living, tax
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