Archive for the ‘Economy/Employment’ Category
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Stephen Harper’s economic luck runs out
The Liberals had bequeathed the Tories a sound fiscal situation and a string of surpluses, so much so that in its early years, the Harperites could cut taxes and still boost spending on their favourite causes… with seemingly no consequences… But the Tories’ real stroke of luck was that resource prices… remained strong even after the financial crisis… There’s nothing wrong with taking advantage of fortuitous circumstances. The problem occurs when you take that luck for granted
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, standard of living, tax
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Monetarism is dead, finally
It has now been half a century since Friedman first expounded on monetarism and it is increasingly apparent that the time has come to lay his theory to rest… The Bank of Canada first latched onto monetarism during the 1970s, when both inflation and unemployment were near double digits and increasing simultaneously… The last half decade or so has demonstrated that old theories die hard and slow… Experts are finally changing their minds
Tags: economy, featured, globalization, ideology, poverty, standard of living, tax
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Computers, jobs and rising income inequality
… the elimination of routine jobs by machines results in the relatively unskilled competing for the many lower-level jobs that are non-routine and cannot be readily automated… it may result in higher unemployment and even lower wages for those at the lower end of the skills ladder… a basic income for all citizens… will be hard to refute… [given] the moral and economic logic for spreading the bounty of technological progress
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, participation, standard of living
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Focus a carbon-tax debate on the economy, not the environment
… a carbon tax designed to improve the economy would be good for the environment… If we do introduce a carbon tax, let us make sure it does not join the list of policies that began with good intentions and ended up with less than stellar performance, such as provincial anti-poverty policies, social-assistance systems, the employment insurance program and – do I dare add – our health care system.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living, tax
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Tory policy? Big Business isn’t feeling the love
… the government’s nine-year reign likely constitutes the most significant pro-business policy shift in Canada’s postwar history. More recently, however… the Conservatives have come into direct conflict with business. With a tough election looming, and the government’s actions increasingly dictated by political optics rather than any consistent economic ideology… The myriad of boutique tax cuts, micro-targeted to capture strategic little slices of the electorate, has been widely denounced in business circles.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, tax
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The time is right for a carbon tax that works
The collapse of global oil prices has created a window of opportunity for Canadian governments… to tap into new fiscal revenue, while simultaneously adjusting prices for consumption of hydrocarbon-based fuels in order to reflect the environmental damage they cause… A provincial fuels carbon tax would also help to address concerns about revenue transfers or recycling between regions… There is no trade-off between strong environmental performance and a strong economy.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, globalization, ideology, tax
Posted in Policy Context | 1 Comment »
A tip of the hat to Prof. Piketty
… the time has come to rethink the conventional wisdom that big government is bad, and so must not be fed higher taxes that would make it even bigger. Government debt is also bad, say proponents of this view, but the only acceptable way to pay it down is to cut programs. They are right that reducing debt is important, but there is another way to do it: finding new sources of revenue… [Some] taxes have the virtue of being so small as to be almost painless and yet able to raise vast sums.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, globalization, ideology, standard of living
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We need new thinking to meet Canada’s new challenges
Canada’s public service and most of our politicians have been steeped for so long in the neo-liberal view of government’s role in the economy that they cannot conceive of another model…. the big policy frontiers Canada faces today… Productivity growth… a lower carbon future… Income inequality… Canadian federalism… about once a generation Canada needs a major economic policy rethink.
Tags: economy, featured, globalization, ideology, standard of living
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Workers need a New Year’s raise
… wages of permanent workers have risen a bit faster than those of temporary workers, and wages of women have risen a bit faster than those of men. But these differences do not hide the fact that real wages are pretty much flat across the board… Demand for most goods and services will not grow at a robust pace if wages continue to stagnate and lag behind productivity… the problem of stagnant wages is compounded by the fact that wage increases are typically distributed very unequally.
Tags: economy, featured, globalization, ideology, standard of living
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Canada’s all about energy … to send elsewhere
… the Conservative government applies strict constitutional reasoning: What is federal is federal, what is provincial is provincial. You can see this at work in health care. Ottawa will cut a cheque, but not attach strings to how the money is spent… It prevents Ottawa from being seen by provinces as nothing more than a cash cow. But another way of thinking about Canadian federalism sees Ottawa with its “spending power,” a power upheld by the courts, and the only government with a “national” vision.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, jurisdiction
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