Archive for the ‘Policy Context’ Category
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Set national standards for EI
Tuesday, November 8th, 2011
Nov. 8, 2011
… losing a job can cause laid-off workers similar hardship regardless of where they live… the bulk of the Canadian labour market, through its EI contributions, redistributes income toward seasonal workers and industries. Variable entrance requirements are the opaque screen through which this redistribution takes place. As a consequence, the EI program leads to under-coverage for some workers in certain areas of the country, weakening EI’s effectiveness as a social safety net.
Tags: economy, ideology, rights, standard of living
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Rich People Create Jobs! And five other myths…
Monday, November 7th, 2011
Nov./Dec. 2011
If we’re ever going to revive the economy, we’ve got to tackle them head on. Here are six of the worst. Myth #1: The Stimulus Failed… Myth #2: The Deficit Is Our Biggest Problem Right Now… MYTH # 3: Lower Taxes Are The Best Way To Grow The Economy… MYTH # 4: Regulatory Uncertainty is Clogging the Economy… MYTH #5: Obama is Debasing the Dollar… MYTH # 6: If You Unshackle the Rich, They’ll Rev Up The Economy…
Tags: budget, economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living
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The Job Killers
Monday, November 7th, 2011
Nov./Dec 2011
… government spending… is the only kind of spending that can be pumped into the economy when business investment dries up. And it’s also what keeps paychecks coming to the 20 million Americans who work for federal, state, and local governments, the 1.4 million active-duty military personnel, the 55 million on Social Security, and last but certainly not least the 300,000-plus businesses that depend in whole or in part on government contracts.
Tags: economy, ideology
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The Path Not Taken
Sunday, November 6th, 2011
October 27, 2011
… a crisis brought on by deregulation becomes a reason to move even further to the right; a time of mass unemployment, instead of spurring public efforts to create jobs, becomes an era of austerity, in which government spending and social programs are slashed. This doctrine was sold both with claims that there was no alternative… [But] Iceland let the banks go bust and actually expanded its social safety net… it has managed to limit both the rise in unemployment and the suffering of the most vulnerable; the social safety net has survived intact, as has the basic decency of its society.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living
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Small business, the romance is over
Wednesday, October 26th, 2011
Oct 20 2011
Fact is, the dismal failure rate of small businesses is such that they kill about as many new jobs as they create. About 40 per cent of new businesses fail in their first two years… Our misplaced romanticizing of small business is lousy public policy. We chronically misallocate taxpayer resources to subsidize with tax breaks and other largesse the lifestyle choice of folks who prefer to be their own boss… doctors, accountants, travel and real estate agents, beauticians, the trusts of wealthy families, and recipients of rental income on vacation homes and commercial real estate. None of those are risk-taking job creators.
Tags: economy, ideology, standard of living, tax
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Economics has met the enemy, and it is economics
Monday, October 17th, 2011
Oct. 16, 2011
Theories based on assumptions of rationality, efficiency and equilibrium in the marketplace are likely to be treated with a great deal more skepticism. Homo economicus is a lot more anxious, irrational, unpredictable and complex than most economists believed. And, as Adam Smith recognized, he has a moral and ethical dimension that should not be ignored… Yet the[se models] have successfully provided a “scientific” cover for an anti-regulatory political agenda that is popular on Wall Street and in some Washington political circles.
Tags: economy, ideology, standard of living
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Breaking the generational logjam
Sunday, October 16th, 2011
Oct 13 2011
Now, with a sputtering economy, a youth unemployment rate of 17 per cent and no exit date for older workers, what choices does Canada have? Reinstating mandatory retirement, while theoretically possible, would be extremely difficult… Bolstering public pensions to help older workers retire would make room for new entrants. But Ottawa and the provinces pulled the plug on pension reform after 16 months of fruitless meetings… This probably means that it will be up to employers, employees and unions to work out piecemeal solutions
Tags: economy, rights, youth
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Lisa Raitt’s trampling of union rights speeds up demise of labour ministry
Friday, October 14th, 2011
Oct. 13, 2011
Ms. Raitt is doing her best to accelerate her portfolio’s demise. The right to free collective bargaining and the right to strike have been fundamental in this country for more than 70 years. With Ms. Raitt in charge, those rights appear headed for the trash can… She vowed back-to-work legislation before flight attendants had set up a single picket line, called for a review of the long-standing federal labour code because employees twice said no to a recommended agreement (an extremely rare event), and further abused the bargaining process this week by arbitrarily referring the wrangle to the Canada Industrial Relations Board
Tags: economy, ideology, rights
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Immigration undergoes a sea change
Friday, October 7th, 2011
Oct. 06, 2011
“We had the globalization of trade, we had the globalization of capital, and now we have the globalization of talent.”… “Increasingly, immigrants who live elsewhere are being viewed as assets… This is a paradigm shift… The notion of brain drain is ridiculed – instead, it is ‘brain circulation.’ The notion is that people can return as tourists, that people can be ambassadors for their home countries, that people can serve as business agents.”
Tags: economy, globalization, immigration, standard of living
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Unions are more democratic than big oil or banks
Wednesday, October 5th, 2011
Oct 5, 2011
I can’t recall the last time any company that I have shares in asking for my vote on the money they spend supporting political parties. Instead of attacking unions that display more democratic principles than most other institutions in society, go after the real oppressors like oil companies and banks who constantly squeeze money out of workers’ pockets.
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, rights
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