Archive for the ‘Debates’ Category
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Sunday, December 2nd, 2012
Nov. 25, 2012
… the deficit scolds aren’t giving up… Fix the Debt, is campaigning for cuts to Social Security and Medicare, even while making lower tax rates a “core principle.” That last part makes no sense in terms of the group’s ostensible mission, but makes perfect sense if you look at the array of big corporations… involved in the effort and would benefit from tax cuts. Hey, sacrifice is for the little people.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, standard of living, tax
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Sunday, November 25th, 2012
November 23, 2012
Provincial governments are big players on their own: far bigger than Ottawa. As a group, they collect more in taxes than the federal government… Constitutionally, provinces share jurisdiction over immigration with Ottawa. They could exercise this jurisdiction by paying less attention to local employers seeking cheap labour — which, if I understand Friday’s communiqué correctly, seems to be their current focus — and more to the needs of jobless Canadians.
Tags: economy, ideology, standard of living
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Monday, October 8th, 2012
September 4, 2012
Historically, Canadian businesses tended to borrow funds to cover capital investments they couldn’t finance internally. Lately, however, businesses are emitting funds. Statistics Canada’s latest figures also show that over the year to mid-2012, they not only added about $12,000 of new capital per worker, they also released about $3,500 per worker in saving… Our workers are now getting more new plant and equipment than their counterparts abroad.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living, tax
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Sunday, September 30th, 2012
September 29, 2012
… any decision by any state entity in Canada… can be challenged by a Chinese investor. The arbitrators, if they conclude that the decision violates flexible standards of investor protection, can issue orders and award damages against a country. On the other hand, no one in Canada including the government will be able, under the deal, to sue a Chinese investor for breaking any laws. The claims are one-way.
Tags: economy, globalization, privatization, rights, standard of living
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Friday, September 28th, 2012
September 28, 2012
The Ontario government is selling its new public restraint bill as a simple, two-year wage freeze. A close reading shows the proposed law is much, much broader… it would give the provincial cabinet wartime-style powers over public sector compensation for at least six years… And the bill would bar unions from either striking or appealing such decisions to the courts.
Tags: budget, economy, rights, standard of living
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Sunday, September 23rd, 2012
Sep 19, 2012
While no one would mistake these for boom times, the reality is that the Canadian economy remains in relatively good shape. Unemployment is at 7.3%: a percentage point higher than it was at its pre-recession low, but lower than at almost any other time in the last 40 years… Poverty, even when measured against a moving target like Statistics Canada’s Low Income Cut Off, is at its lowest level in at least 40 years, perhaps ever…
Tags: economy, globalization, poverty, standard of living
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Saturday, September 22nd, 2012
Sep. 20 2012
The revolution Mr. Milner describes is part of a sea change in how the economies of Western industrialized nations work – and one that is hollowing out the middle class.
Mr. Milner’s focus is on what he calls the three big “stories” in business innovation: “platform,” “free” and “e-commerce.”… the biggest impact of the e-commerce revolution… won’t be on the number of jobs in the economy; it will be on how well they pay.
Tags: economy, globalization, participation, poverty, standard of living, youth
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Monday, September 3rd, 2012
September 1, 2012
Boards of directors, outside corporate law and accounting firms, giant ratings agencies, state and federal banking regulators, and legislative and oversight committees all failed to detect or prevent abuses that led to trillion-dollar losses in pensions, millions of unemployed workers and taxpayer-funded bailouts. Why? Because they were “paid” to look the other way, through lucrative fees, campaign contributions or future employment opportunities. Individual and institutional shareholders didn’t restrain the corporate bosses because over the decades corporate managers have rendered shareholders powerless.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, privatization, rights
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Saturday, September 1st, 2012
August 31, 2012
Unions are solidly middle-class institutions. True, their rhetoric may be radical… But in reality, unions are fundamentally conservative. Most today are not trying to break new ground. Instead, they are attempting to hold on — often desperately — to what they have… As unions disappear, so do well-paying, secure jobs. When labour is strong, even non-union shops pay well — just to prevent themselves from being organized… Sadly, much of the middle-class doesn’t recognize the role that unions play in keeping everyone’s wages at livable levels.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, pensions, rights, standard of living
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Tuesday, August 28th, 2012
August 27, 2012
The point of job security — a key right won by unions — is to give employees security against arbitrary firing. But removing that sort of security — leaving workers fearful and therefore malleable to the demands of their employers — has been a central aim of the right and segments of the business community… As long as the right can keep workers envious and suspicious of each other, the focus won’t be on those at the top, where the benefits have actually gone… Labour’s share of Canada’s national income has fallen from 65 to 60 per cent since 1990, partly because of policies like privatization and deregulation
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, pensions, privatization, rights, standard of living
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