Archive for the ‘Debates’ Category
« Older Entries | Newer Entries »
Fighting for safety on the job
Thursday, December 29th, 2011
Dec 28 2011
There were 24 deaths on construction sites in 2010 – eight more than the year before… Ontario needs mandatory safety training for construction workers and enhanced training for those in high-risk activities. Workers must be better informed about their rights and employers about their responsibilities to provide a safe work environment. All that must be coupled with better enforcement to make sure the rules are actually followed.
Tags: Health, rights, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
How the resource boom is transforming our economy
Monday, December 26th, 2011
Dec. 20, 2011
The Canadian economy has undergone a fairly profound shift over the past 10 years… we are starting to see… (that) exploitation of natural resources leads to a decline in the manufacturing sector… Ontario, the province most reliant on manufacturing, is now the second largest recipient of federal equalization payments… We should use some of the proceeds of non-renewable natural resources development to foster growth in our truly renewable resource industries — such as information technology and life sciences.
Tags: economy, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Cure for Ontario’s credit woes worse than disease
Sunday, December 18th, 2011
Dec 16 2011
… the more governments reduce spending by, for instance, slashing public service jobs, the lower their tax revenues. And the lower the tax revenues, the harder it is to meet fiscal targets – which spooks the financial markets even more. It is a pernicious circle. What should Ontario’s government do? First, it should avoid panic… Second, it shouldn’t scapegoat public sector employees… Debt and deficit – while costly – are sometimes better than the alternative. Bond rating agencies notwithstanding, this is one of those times.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Approaching the tipping point [corporate interests]
Tuesday, December 13th, 2011
Dec 12 2011
Governments in the “Western” world need to wake up and start working with corporations and labour to create general prosperity. Corporations that send jobs to countries with cheaper labour not only undermine their own workers but also themselves. As the “corporate” world eliminates decent wages in their countries of origin, they also eliminate potential customers of their own products.
Tags: economy, globalization, standard of living, tax
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Why the gap between rich and poor in Canada keeps growing
Tuesday, December 6th, 2011
Dec 05 2011
Information technology has eliminated some middle-skill jobs, such as filing and administration, while globalization has seen high-paid manufacturing jobs outsourced to lower-paid countries… Globalization has given top talent the ability to command higher compensation… At the same time, globalization has weakened the lowest earners’ bargaining power as their jobs are outsourced to cheaper countries… Taxes and benefits used to offset 70 per cent of the rise in the income gap in Canada. Now, they offset just 40 per cent…
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, rights, standard of living, tax
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
One analyst’s take on how the economic-equality gap got so large
Thursday, December 1st, 2011
Nov. 30, 201
Whatever shape the [Occupy] movement may take in the future, it might do well to adopt the recommendations in U.S. economist Dean Baker’s new e-book The End of Loser Liberalism as its policy manifesto… this inequality is the result of the neo-conservative revolution… of the rich using government intervention to funnel wealth from the vast majority to themselves… The neo-conservative policies… led to stagnating wages for the majority, sagging domestic demand and, consequently, less incentive to reinvest in domestic production. The growth engine of the U.S. economy shifted instead to “bubbles”…
Tags: budget, economy, featured, globalization, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Greed didn’t accomplish medicare, better pensions
Tuesday, November 29th, 2011
Nov. 28, 2011
… “Our free-enterprise system is the engine that drives our economy…if we didn’t have greed, then there would be little if any progress.”… Many philosophies teach that the love of money (greed) is the root of all evil… Those of us who have good-paying jobs with hard fought-for benefits are able to make their way into our ever abundant, consumer-driven society. Some people, the “one-per centers,” have been known to accomplish this and much more by crawling over the backs of others. Real progress in our society comes from the selfless acts of those who extend themselves to help others without any expectation of return.
Tags: Health, ideology, pensions, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
On productivity, the ‘invisible hand’ lacks visible success
Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011
Nov. 22, 2011
… large government by itself is no more a guarantee of productivity success than small government: Interventions must be smart, efficient and disciplined. But experience shows clearly that market forces on their own cannot be relied on to guide the economy to its innovative, efficient potential… we cannot continue to wait for the forces of unregulated private competition to develop Canada’s economy in a sustainable, diversified manner.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Young men without work
Saturday, November 12th, 2011
Nov. 11, 2011
Despite what the Occupy movement says, the biggest economic challenge we face today is not income inequality, greedy corporations, Wall Street corruption or the concentration of wealth among the top 1 per cent. It’s the increasing failure of young men with high-school degrees or less to latch on to the world of work. Young men without work aren’t just an economic problem. They’re a huge social problem… Young men without work are trapped in a twilight world of failure to achieve adulthood… The longer they go without work, the dimmer their prospects become.
Tags: economy, poverty, standard of living, youth
Posted in Debates | 2 Comments »
Stereotype of ‘menial worker’ is obsolete
Monday, November 7th, 2011
Nov 06 2011
… it would make sense for policy-makers to think differently about how to train workers for the largest – and fastest growing – segment of the labour market. It would also make sense to Ontario to allocate more of its education dollars to training the 48 per cent of the adult population that lacks the skills to fill out an online application or compete for an entry-level job in the digital economy.
Tags: economy, globalization, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Recent Comments