Archive for the ‘Policy Context’ Category
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Having Their Cake and Eating It Too
Thursday, April 14th, 2011
April 13, 2011
This study examines historical data on business investment and cash flow from 1961 through 2010, and, using econometric techniques, finds no evidence in the historical data that lower taxes have directly stimulated more investment. Business fixed capital spending has declined notably as a share of GDP and as a share of corporate cash flow since the early 1980s—despite repeated tax cuts that have reduced the combined federal-provincial corporate tax rate from 50% to just 29.5% in 2010.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living, tax
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Business tax cuts don’t spur more capital spending, study shows
Wednesday, April 13th, 2011
Apr 13 2011
Historical economic data from Statistics Canada reveals business fixed capital spending has dropped slightly as a percentage of GDP and as a share of corporate cash flow for almost three decades, according to the study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, an Ottawa-based non-partisan, non-profit research agency. The decline came despite continuing business tax cuts that have slashed the combined corporate federal-provincial corporate rate from 50 per cent in the 1980s to 29.5 per cent in 2010
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living, tax
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Labour needs a new image
Sunday, April 10th, 2011
Apr 10 2011
… we have to do more than talk to ourselves and attribute our problems to others – right-wing politicians, the corporate media, globalization… We are at our most creative when we’re searching for others to blame… Business and government adapted far sooner to the new media… But the problem is even more profound than that. We do not have a narrative relevant to the 21st century… We should tell employers – and our members – that the union label indicates dependable, hard-working employees committed to the success of the enterprise.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, privatization, standard of living
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BoC’s former No. 2 sets out a plan for the G20
Saturday, April 9th, 2011
April 8, 2011
G20 governments have a responsibility to create the local political conditions to allow for policies that are good for the global economy, rather than just the domestic economy… current economic models do a poor job at predicting how changes in domestic policies will ripple through the global system. With that analysis in place, countries should publish an “international impact assessment” with each domestic policy that could affect other countries. The G20 also should draw up a “schedule of cooperation.” The idea is to bolster accountability.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology
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Ever-lower rates: Corporate tax cut doubts
Thursday, April 7th, 2011
Apr 07 2011
Statistics Canada data shows that while Canada’s federal corporate tax rate declined steadily over the past decade — from 28 per cent in 2000 to 16.5 per cent now — companies have not put more money into their businesses. Investment in machinery and equipment has actually declined steadily over the same period, as corporations have saved billions in tax. At the same time, Canadian companies have been adding billions to their cash reserves — $83 billion since 2008. Instead of investing in the technology and equipment we need to improve our lagging productivity, they’ve been stockpiling money.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, globalization, ideology, standard of living, tax
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Restoring Minimum Wages in Canada
Wednesday, April 6th, 2011
April 05, 2011
The report argues that the provincial and territorial governments should – in conjunction with key actors including business, labour, experts and social groups – work together through a transparent process to define what constitutes an adequate minimum wage (e.g., equal to the poverty line, or a percentage of average earnings) and how to protect its value over time through some form of indexation (e.g., to the cost of living, or to the change in average earnings). The report also compares minimum wages… Ontario ranks third-highest in the US and Canada, next to Oregon and Washington .
Tags: economy, ideology, standard of living
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The Austerity Delusion
Sunday, April 3rd, 2011
March 24, 2011
Why not slash deficits immediately? Because tax increases and cuts in government spending would depress economies further, worsening unemployment. And cutting spending in a deeply depressed economy is largely self-defeating even in purely fiscal terms: any savings achieved at the front end are partly offset by lower revenue, as the economy shrinks.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, poverty, standard of living
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With financial meltdowns and labour protests, is it the springtime for Marx?
Sunday, March 27th, 2011
Mar. 27, 2011
“The revival of Marxism as a political project is unlikely, because the social forces that Marx expected to realize his ideas have been decisively weakened since the 1970s, namely the labour movements and mass labour and socialist parties. What should revive in today’s global atmosphere is Marxism as the major ideology criticizing capitalism and analyzing its internal contradictions and its incapacity to find effective solutions for the global problems of our century, notably the environmental crisis.” (Prof. Hobsbawm)
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Justifying lower corporate taxes
Saturday, March 26th, 2011
Mar. 26, 2011
… there’s a school of thought that inherent flaws in the tax regime are preventing Canada from reaping the gains of lower corporate taxes. Michael Smart… said there is “a raft of policies” that offset the benefits of lower corporate tax rates. Chief among them, in his opinion, is the move to reduce tax rates for small businesses alongside cuts to the main statutory rate that applies to larger companies. Small firms, he said, tend to be less productive than larger corporations, and reducing their rates below the statutory level provides no incentive for them to expand and invest.
Tags: economy, globalization, tax
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The Happynomics of Life
Sunday, March 20th, 2011
March 12, 2011
British research has suggested that money itself does not confer happiness, although wealthier people tend to be happier; that employment is critical to self-esteem; that women tend to be happier than men; and that people need something beyond the material for fulfillment… Open spaces, clear air, security, release from pressure — these are things of growing importance and scarcity. Then the question becomes: How do you promote them while at the same time creating the jobs needed in all Western societies? Growth is of course a large part of the answer, but it can’t be all the answer any longer.
Tags: ideology, mental Health, participation, standard of living
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