Archive for the ‘Debates’ Category
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How workers are being sacrificed to a doctrine that intentionally keeps unemployment high
Saturday, December 24th, 2022
The economy risks serious recession from an interest shock that was neither necessary, nor effective in reducing inflation… Hundreds of thousands of Canadians could lose their jobs, and many their homes. Why? They’re being sacrificed to visibly reassert a doctrine that keeps unemployment deliberately high – not just to control inflation, but more importantly to control workers.
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, standard of living
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Four ways the fall economic statement could help prepare all of us for the coming recession
Thursday, November 3rd, 2022
People are anxious. The world is talking about recession… What can the government do about any of it? Help those struggling to choose between heating or eating, or even between food or shelter, by asking a bit more from those who saw a windfall in corporate profits and shareholder dividends. Here are four ways to do just that…
Tags: budget, economy, housing, ideology, tax
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EI Needs A Redesign To Be Recession-Ready
Thursday, October 6th, 2022
… Gray and Busby… propose implementing uniform or more universal entrance requirements across Canada… variations in the length of benefit entitlement periods would be driven by changes in unemployment rates instead of levels in given regions… [and that] the number of regions be sharply reduced… these changes may require a small increase to EI premiums.
Tags: economy, ideology, jurisdiction, standard of living
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The new villain? Workers fighting for better wages. Don’t fall for it
Wednesday, October 5th, 2022
This is an important chapter in the history of workers’ struggles for decent work, a moment of fighting not only inflation but long-standing systemic inequalities. It has the potential to pit unionized worker against non-unionized worker, and private sector worker against public sector worker. Or it has the potential to pave the path toward decent work, through fairness and equity
Tags: economy, ideology, standard of living
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One in six households in Ontario is now struggling with food insecurity. Here’s why it’s going to get worse
Wednesday, September 21st, 2022
The chattering classes have embraced a new economic theme: government efforts to fight inflation will trigger more inflation. They’re wrong… Ontario was the only province where more people were food insecure in 2021 than in 2020… Last week the Trudeau government introduced $4.6 billion in federal aid to be spent on inflation relief until the end of 2023, almost every penny for those with low incomes.
Tags: economy, poverty, standard of living
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Show me the money: It’s not a worker shortage, it’s a wage shortage
Monday, September 5th, 2022
One of the key worker reasons for not taking jobs is that the jobs are lousy. One of the key ways that a job is lousy is that the pay is too low. Given the disruption in work experienced earlier in the pandemic, followed by sky-high inflation, expecting 10 people to apply for a $15 an hour job isn’t realistic… Job seekers are waiting for employers to show them the money—and to offer good working conditions too.
Tags: economy, featured, Health, ideology, immigration, jurisdiction, participation, standard of living
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Why a universal job guarantee beats the basic income pipe dream
Monday, August 1st, 2022
Job guarantee programs are crucial for a number of reasons. They keep people in the labour force, alleviate poverty, improve health and well-being, add meaning to people’s lives and help the most vulnerable… Like the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, universal basic income might take away the incentive to work for some, resulting in a labour market bereft of workers… a universal job guarantee would be more appealing to voters because it addresses labour shortages while guaranteeing minimum wage.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, participation, standard of living
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The Rogers outage, and other scenes from the death of neo-liberalism
Friday, July 15th, 2022
The premiers met in B.C. this week and wailed hysterically about needing more money to fix health care. I wouldn’t give them another cent till they pass a written test on what went wrong. They adopted the just-in-time principle from manufacturing (which led to bottlenecks and inflation now rampant) for health. They cut staff to a minimum. Why? Because it fit with the neo-liberal agenda to slash taxes and pay for it with decreased spending on public programs… Then when COVID hit, the system began to crumble.
Tags: economy, Health, ideology, jurisdiction
Posted in Debates, Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
A self-inflicted recession and a pointless sacrifice to a mystical two per cent god
Sunday, July 3rd, 2022
With unemployment low, we now face a devil’s choice between continued inflation and deliberate recession. We need other strategies for motivating growth when needed, and slowing it when it’s not. Other tools could be invoked right now to control inflation, such as strategic price controls, targeted taxes on corporations and high-income earners, and low-cost or free public services. But the dominant orthodoxy demands monetary austerity, and nothing else.
Tags: economy
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Workers didn’t cause this inflation. And they shouldn’t have to pay for it
Sunday, May 29th, 2022
So long as the actual causes of inflation are addressed (by fixing supply chains, energy prices, and housing), inflation would then decelerate, even as wages keep up. Contingent wage protections (like cost-of-living adjustments) would also maintain the purchasing value of wages, without prompting higher inflation. To the limited extent that domestic demand pressures are reinforcing higher prices, it is better to use more focused and fair contractionary measures to dampen spending.
Tags: budget, economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living, tax
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