Archive for the ‘Policy Context’ Category
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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
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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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The Beer Store’s secret sweetheart deal with LCBO revealed
Rising LCBO profits went straight to the government treasury to fund hospitals, schools and infrastructure. By contrast, The Beer Store’s profits go straight into the coffers of its private (no, not government) owners, whose corporate parents are now based abroad… For years, The Beer Store has maintained close to 80 per cent market share because of its control over volume sales of major brands in its chain. The LCBO has been held back to just over 20 per cent, but insiders believe it would make major inroads without the protectionist pact that benefits the big brewers.
Tags: budget, globalization, ideology, privatization, standard of living
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Supreme Court of Canada ruling makes honesty the law for businesses
In a unanimous ruling, a panel of seven Supreme Court justices rewrote centuries-old common law to clarify bewildering Canadian case law about the legal duty of businesses to act in good faith with companies and people with whom they have contracts. Some areas of contractual law, such as employment, franchise and insurance agreements, already require a duty of good faith, but no such standard exists in the broader arena of commercial contracts.
Tags: crime prevention, ideology, rights, standard of living
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Minimum wage has no consistent effect on employment levels
A recent report by CCPA research associates and Unifor economists Jordan Brennan and Jim Stanford… examines the relationship between minimum wages and employment in all ten Canadian provinces between 1983 and 2012, and finds no consistent evidence that minimum wage levels affect employment in either direction. Instead, the research concludes that employment levels are overwhelmingly determined by larger macroeconomic factors.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, standard of living
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The Dismal Science
In “Seven Bad Ideas: How Mainstream Economists Have Damaged America and the World,” Jeff Madrick… argues that the professional failures since 2008 didn’t come out of the blue but were rooted in decades of intellectual malfeasance… Economists presented as reality an idealized vision of free markets, dressed up in fancy math that gave it a false appearance of rigor. As a result, the world was unprepared when markets went bad.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living
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More flexible eligibility and financing rules for EI a better way to help jobless
… the federal government is eliminating the overall federal deficit faster than would otherwise be the case by once again running annual surpluses in the EI account… the current EI surplus is partly the result of a record-low proportion of unemployed workers actually managing to qualify for benefits… Seen from this perspective, the EI surplus is being paid for by workers twice: first as premium payers, and second as potential beneficiaries.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, tax
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Right-wing Fraser Institute now claims it is not right-wing
The think tank says it shouldn’t be characterized as conservative because its work is “not value-based, it’s driven by data.”… “economic freedom” — or the absence of government meddling — is the Fraser Institute’s go-to policy prescription, even if it requires some mental gymnastics… “So how does economic freedom improve air quality? By ensuring private property rights, rule of law, and limiting the size of government.”… No wonder the Fraser Institute takes offence — repeatedly — to any environmental policy that would require companies to adjust their behaviour.
Tags: economy, ideology, standard of living, tax
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Income Inequality Costs The Middle Class $18,000 A Year
… according to a new paper from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI)… between 1979 and 2007… Income growth for households between the top 96th and 99th percentiles grew by more than 78 percent, and the top 1 percent’s income growth was a whopping 245 percent. That last figure is nearly five times as fast as overall average income growth during that time period… Part of the story is that wage growth has been disconnected from workers’ growing productivity.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living, tax
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What’s behind Obama’s war on corporate ‘deserters’
… in the past decade, 47 major U.S. corporations have ducked U.S. taxes on their profits through an unpatriotic but legal manoeuvre called “inversion”… There is now a considerable backlash against the inverters… CEOs hungry for short-term profit and share-price gains do seek lower taxes, certainly. But what they crave most is punishingly lower wages, in a race to the bottom. The fillip of stiffing the taxman is just one galling aspect of wanting to have it all.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living, tax
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