Posts Tagged ‘economy’
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Why a universal job guarantee beats the basic income pipe dream
Monday, August 1st, 2022
Job guarantee programs are crucial for a number of reasons. They keep people in the labour force, alleviate poverty, improve health and well-being, add meaning to people’s lives and help the most vulnerable… Like the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, universal basic income might take away the incentive to work for some, resulting in a labour market bereft of workers… a universal job guarantee would be more appealing to voters because it addresses labour shortages while guaranteeing minimum wage.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, participation, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
What are the key trends in Social Assistance Summaries, 2021?
Monday, July 25th, 2022
The analysis in this policy brief provides a first set of pathways for governments to improve the human right to an adequate standard of living of some of the most vulnerable people in Canada… federal, provincial, and territorial governments have long neglected [unattached singles], often preferring to focus on families with children and seniors. Because of this, welfare incomes of unattached singles have become highly inadequate, falling well below the deep poverty income threshold in almost every province.
Tags: disabilities, economy, featured, jurisdiction, participation, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Social Security History | No Comments »
The Rogers outage, and other scenes from the death of neo-liberalism
Friday, July 15th, 2022
The premiers met in B.C. this week and wailed hysterically about needing more money to fix health care. I wouldn’t give them another cent till they pass a written test on what went wrong. They adopted the just-in-time principle from manufacturing (which led to bottlenecks and inflation now rampant) for health. They cut staff to a minimum. Why? Because it fit with the neo-liberal agenda to slash taxes and pay for it with decreased spending on public programs… Then when COVID hit, the system began to crumble.
Tags: economy, Health, ideology, jurisdiction
Posted in Debates, Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
A self-inflicted recession and a pointless sacrifice to a mystical two per cent god
Sunday, July 3rd, 2022
With unemployment low, we now face a devil’s choice between continued inflation and deliberate recession. We need other strategies for motivating growth when needed, and slowing it when it’s not. Other tools could be invoked right now to control inflation, such as strategic price controls, targeted taxes on corporations and high-income earners, and low-cost or free public services. But the dominant orthodoxy demands monetary austerity, and nothing else.
Tags: economy
Posted in Debates, Policy Context | No Comments »
Ottawa should stop clawbacks of pandemic benefits
Sunday, June 26th, 2022
Groups such as Campaign 2000, which advocates to eliminate child and family poverty, have… pressed the federal government to ensure that benefits and refundable tax credits such as the Canada Child Benefit are not clawed back and that any lost benefits are restored. (Ottawa did act to restore Guaranteed Income Supplement payments that had been reduced or eliminated because of pandemic benefits.)
Tags: budget, child care, economy, featured, poverty, tax
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | No Comments »
It’s time to unite the left in Ontario
Thursday, June 2nd, 2022
Liberals, NDP and Green members share many overlapping aims and would be compatible in a merger. They would also produce a more accurate representation of what the majority wants: evidence-based, compassionate policies; a healthy economy; better quality education and health care; affordable housing; serious climate-change work and so on.
Tags: economy, ideology, jurisdiction, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
How a Massive Expansion of Public Housing Can Pay for Itself
Tuesday, May 31st, 2022
… public or non-profit housing could be built and run at break-even rents about a third lower than those of private rental housing… the provincial government could invest in creating new rental homes at a scale that would fundamentally transform our broken housing system. But there’s no reason in principle that this type of self-financed public housing couldn’t be built by any willing level of government. The federal government could certainly do it and so could large municipalities
Tags: budget, economy, housing, ideology, participation, privatization, standard of living
Posted in Inclusion Debates | No Comments »
Workers didn’t cause this inflation. And they shouldn’t have to pay for it
Sunday, May 29th, 2022
So long as the actual causes of inflation are addressed (by fixing supply chains, energy prices, and housing), inflation would then decelerate, even as wages keep up. Contingent wage protections (like cost-of-living adjustments) would also maintain the purchasing value of wages, without prompting higher inflation. To the limited extent that domestic demand pressures are reinforcing higher prices, it is better to use more focused and fair contractionary measures to dampen spending.
Tags: budget, economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Canada Underinvests In Community Care
Tuesday, May 24th, 2022
Canada’s per capita spending on homecare and other outpatient and day program services falls below the international average. In general, countries that direct higher proportions of health spending to seniors care than Canada also spend more per capita on home care, outpatient care and day programs for seniors.
Tags: disabilities, economy, ideology, Seniors, standard of living
Posted in Child & Family Policy Context | No Comments »
Antiquated thinking about old age hinders Canada’s economic and social development
Tuesday, May 24th, 2022
A revised conception of old age would significantly decrease the number of people classified as old and would more accurately reflect the total number of people in Canada’s working age population. A modern definition would also mitigate stereotypes of older workers and ageism while prodding governments to reform outdated laws and provide a boost to an economy often facing worker shortages.
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, pensions, Seniors, standard of living, women
Posted in Debates | No Comments »