Archive for the ‘Debates’ Category
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Don’t copy America: Canada needs fewer guest workers, more citizens
Both Canada and the U.S. are high immigration countries – but… we have far more immigrants, yet far less social dislocation. Canada welcomes large numbers of newcomers into the Canadian family, in a legal and orderly manner, whereas the U.S. only accepts relatively small numbers of legal immigrants, while simultaneously being home to huge number of long-term, illegal entrants… Canada should be… doing the opposite.
Tags: economy, globalization, immigration, participation, rights, standard of living
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Globalization and its discontents
… free-trade deals such as the one between Canada and the European Union and the Trans-Pacific Partnership… are seen as threats rather than opportunities – threats to local jobs, local procurement preferences, local cultural institutions and efforts to protect local environments… Environmentalists… are among the most protectionist and parochial groups on the planet… Globalization has always had its enemies, going back to the 19th-century trading empires.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, participation, standard of living
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Why trade is taking a beating in the U.S. presidential race
The government should use its promised cross-country TPP consultations to explain how Canadians benefit from trade. One in five jobs depends on trade and trade is equivalent to sixty per cent of Canada’s GDP. Training and adjustment for those whose jobs are affected must be part of the equation. Increasingly, trade deals are less about tariffs than regulations. These regulations should expedite trade while raising environmental and labour standards.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, privatization, rights, standard of living
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Why Big Business is a punching bag in U.S. campaign
The current U.S. campaign has seen attacks on Ford Motor Co., Apple Inc. and Kraft Heinz Co. for shipping jobs overseas… The financial markets are a moral cesspool… Big Business is accused of habitually poking its snout in the trough of corporate welfare… where would it begin in trying to counter the popular antipathy toward it? … How would Big Business defend itself against the excessive executive pay… the main reason… is that investors would be aroused.
Tags: crime prevention, economy, globalization, ideology, privatization, standard of living
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The good and the bad in Ontario’s budget
Classical economists like Adam Smith or Mill… exposed the scam and insisted on distinguishing between productive and unproductive wealth… today’s feudal wastrels, sucking up wealth via interest that could’ve created something, are in FIRE: finance, insurance, real estate… Today they’re more likely to try to conscript the common possessions of a society: “natural monopolies” like highways (since you can’t have competing highways), public schools, or energy utilities.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, privatization, standard of living, tax
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To revive Canada’s economy, reward those who pitch in
The new advisory council is being asked to recommend ways that Canada can… “create the long-term conditions for economic growth.”… private enterprises deserve a strong foundation built on social licence… ventures that make a contribution to society should be granted special privileges… The proposal would temporarily “socialize” private-sector gains by keeping them at work creating jobs and wealth, and enhancing government revenues.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, privatization, standard of living, tax
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Does Canada really need $16 billion in business subsidies?
While small businesses do create most jobs in Canada, the contribution comes from a surprisingly small share of small businesses… the overwhelming majority of small businesses start small and stay small, or exit. That makes the small business deduction, which provides support for investment by all small businesses (at a cost of $3 billion in 2013), wasteful, since most of the benefits are received by firms that do not grow…
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, tax
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Reasons for optimism among the energy sector gloom
A proposal to extend equity stakes in resource projects to affected communities is building growing support among aboriginal, business and political leaders. The concept requires further work, but it shows the type of goodwill and novel thinking that’s occurring… The Minister of Natural Resources has said that “developing our resources is truly a nation-building exercise at a critical moment in Canada’s history.” We share the minister’s optimism.
Tags: economy, Indigenous, jurisdiction, participation, standard of living
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Canada’s free-trade deal with South Korea offers warnings about TPP
If we want to improve our Asia-Pacific trade performance – and we should certainly try – free-trade deals won’t make it happen. Instead, we should emulate measures that Asian countries themselves have used to great effect: industrial planning, subsidized exports and conscious efforts to maximize domestic content in supply chains. Those governments don’t trust their future to “free markets,” and neither should we.
Tags: economy, featured, globalization, ideology, standard of living
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The world according to business
… the Fraser Institute pointed out that the CPP, despite the size of its asset base, was not cheaper to administer (in a ratio between assets and costs) than other public sector pension funds. The finding, essentially? That CPP should not be expanded and an Ontario Pension Plan should not be launched (thereby saving business owners money). What the study didn’t point out, is that an ever-growing number of Canadians will have none of those better-performing pension funds to fall back on. CPP may be their only option — but don’t expand it, for God’s sake.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, participation, pensions, poverty, privatization, standard of living
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