Archive for the ‘Economy/Employment’ Category
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Canada willingly makes tax deals with tax havens
The 92 tax treaties now signed with countries such as Barbados, Jamaica and Malta currently translate into billions of dollars moving out of Canada — nearly all tax free. This includes 22 tax information exchange agreements, where the sharing of tax information is intended to weed out evaders… Canadian academics, auditors general and politicians have all warned some of these treaties have essentially done little else but give legal means for Canadian companies to move profits offshore to financially accommodating jurisdictions where they can pay lower corporate taxes.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, globalization, ideology, standard of living, tax
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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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Why Canadian academics stay away from government policy work
The problem with leaving policy-makers to insiders is that a system in which outsiders get presented with a series of faits accomplis is not consistent with most people’s views of democracy. And even if the process does produce good policies, subsequent governments will feel free to reverse them. The only way to ensure that a policy will survive a change in government is to obtain broad public buy-in… But if there are few incentives for us to do policy research, there are no incentives for us to engage the public: you won’t get tenure by writing blog posts and op-eds.
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, standard of living
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Pay up, shareholders
2015 was a rough year for many of Canada’s resource companies, but that didn’t stop some boards from raising the amount they pay their CEOs, even as thousands were losing their jobs. Those who defend the practice say the larger paycheques are necessary to keep top executives in the fold in difficult times – while others believe it’s more important that corporate leaders share the pain being felt by their investors and employees.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, privatization, standard of living, tax
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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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The Labour Market Agreements: What Did They Really Do?
From 2008 until 2014, the federal government transferred funds through the Labour Market Agreements to the provinces and territories to support labour market programs and employment services for disadvantaged Canadians. In 2013, Ottawa unilaterally cancelled the Labour Market Agreements and replaced them (except in Québec) with Canada Job Fund Agreements. In doing so, Ottawa moved from helping the most disadvantaged to supporting employers to train their own employees.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, jurisdiction, participation, poverty
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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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Employers should support expansion of the Canada Pension Plan
… employers who currently make no contribution at all to employee retirement savings would have to pay more under an expanded CPP. Hence the fierce opposition of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. But a modest, phased-in premium increase in the range of 3 per cent of payroll costs up to maximum CPP earnings would not be economically disruptive, as shown by past experience.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, participation, pensions, standard of living
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Here’s why the EI system is not working and what can be done
In the mid 1990s, the federal government shifted from a ‘weeks’ system to an ‘hours’ system, and at the same time they basically tripled the number of hours you needed to work in order to qualify… The second significant development is the rise in the number of self-employed and contract workers which make up the labour force… We’ve got people that are having trouble breaking into the labour market and we’ve got a bunch of workers that have paid into EI that aren’t being covered
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, participation, poverty, rights, youth
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