Archive for the ‘Policy Context’ Category
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Why the Decline of the West is the best thing to happen to us
In recent years, the West has declined relative to Asia. But it has not declined in absolute terms: Western economies have grown by an average of 1 per cent per year in recent decades; quality of life and income measures have stayed relatively stable or increased slightly. What’s occurring is not a decline, but a global rebalancing… In terms of our financial, economic and employment stability, the rise of the global East and South (and our decline in comparison) is hugely beneficial to the West.
Tags: economy, featured, globalization, ideology, standard of living
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Living wages give benefits to the poor
Paying living wages is good for business. Having a well-paid and motivated workforce is the most important investment any employer can make. Paying living wages is also good for communities. Wage increases for lowwage earners are spent locally, often in small businesses. And living wage policies most definitely benefit the low waged and their families.
Tags: economy, ideology, poverty, standard of living
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Minimum wage: What’s good for the goose is good for the gander
An increase in the minimum wage can actually be good for business. Low-wage workers who have enough money to meet their household needs – you know, like paying the rent AND buying food – tend to spend every extra dollar they earn. Pumping that money back into the economy, through consumer spending, fuels growth and increases sales at local businesses. In Ontario, a full-time minimum wage worker earns 25% below the poverty line, effectively unable to make ends meet.
Tags: economy, ideology, standard of living
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Falling loonie is the world’s way of doing us a favour
… When you are globally regarded as a resource economy, and resources plunge in price, as they have, the value of your currency will drop… export growth… has been essentially stagnant for 14 years… a high-priced loonie helped impede export growth. But productivity growth is the much bigger culprit, with gains only half that of the U.S. in recent years… Canada has suffered a 20 per drop in international visitors since 2000
Tags: economy, globalization, standard of living
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The Fear Economy
The economic recovery has… been weak and inadequate, but all the burden of that weakness is being borne by workers. Corporate profits plunged during the financial crisis, but quickly bounced back, and they continued to soar. Indeed, at this point, after-tax profits are more than 60 percent higher than they were in 2007, before the recession began… a major reason why reducing unemployment isn’t a political priority is that the economy may be lousy for workers, but corporate America is doing just fine.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, standard of living
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Canada’s next free-trade agreement? How about a deal between provinces
The Canadian economy remains divided by artificial barriers… in areas such as procurement, energy, agriculture and transportation… Discriminatory hiring practices which favour local labour, minor differences in licensing requirements and standardization are limiting our ability to grow… our fundamental approach to internal trade in Canada remains flawed. Instead of slowly whittling away at barriers, we need to think of Canada as a single domestic market.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living
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Free trade transformed Canada’s economy
In spite of severe manufacturing job losses over the past decade, Canada’s manufacturing employment has outperformed most G8 countries since the FTA came into effect… Disappointingly, Canada’s productivity jump following the entry into force of the FTA and NAFTA was a one-off event. Significant barriers to domestic productivity growth and innovation still exist, for example, in activities we continue to shelter from competition.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living
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‘You’ve served your purpose and now you’re trash’
Today, for more and more people — in particular immigrants, older workers, the young and women — work brings anything but equality, hope, confidence and repose. Rather, it is becoming the fearsome cave of economic insecurity and the place where dignity and a sense of meaningfulness and self-worth are left at the door… social cohesion is not defined by a society’s similarity of values but by who it includes and who it excommunicates…
Tags: economy, globalization, Health, ideology, mental Health, participation, poverty, standard of living
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Weak demand to blame for productivity slump, research shows
Fully 93 per cent of the huge drop off of productivity in Canada from 2000 to 2012, compared with the 1990s and 1980s, can be traced directly to a drop in after-inflation GDP growth… as the global and Canadian economies head into a slow growth environment… make sure governments do not move too radically to reduce debts and deficits because that could hit growth… governments should drive demand by focusing on productivity-enhancing investments, including roads, buildings and telecommunications infrastructure.
Tags: budget, economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living, tax
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Economic report paints grim picture of Ontario
Corporate taxes have been cut to record low levels, yet our companies are sitting on unprecedented stashes of so-called “lazy cash.” Instead of displaying entrepreneurial zeal to boost exports, our business leaders evince timidity by failing to invest in needed equipment, R&D, software, patents and other productivity tools. Small businesses stay perversely small, the better to benefit from a preferential tax rate — even lower than the recently lowered corporate rate for bigger firms.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living, tax
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