Posts Tagged ‘economy’
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Corporate profits continue to rise as corporate taxes fall
Monday, October 21st, 2024
Rising corporate profits and falling corporate tax rates are related. Corporate tax cuts encourage higher profits by increasing the share of profits that shareholders get to keep. Proponents of cutting corporate taxes typically argue that it will promote investment and eventually lead to higher productivity. But, over the past 30 years, the opposite has happened. In the late 1990s, annual labour productivity growth was over 2%. Now, it is less than 1%.
Tags: economy, jurisdiction, tax
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
There are Better Ways to Spend $3 Billion on Seniors than Boosting OAS
Monday, October 7th, 2024
If $3 billion per year were spent on seniors, where would it be best spent: Income security, supports, services or residential and nursing care? And if income security turns out to be the answer to that question, then why via OAS, which is paid to 7 million Canadian seniors? Should it not instead be the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), which is targeted towards to Canada’s 2.2 million lowest income seniors almost all of whom really do struggle to make ends meet?
Tags: budget, economy, poverty, Seniors
Posted in Social Security Policy Context | No Comments »
What’s behind Canada’s housing crisis? Experts break down the different factors at play
Friday, October 4th, 2024
The market is most likely to respond to the housing needs of those with strong purchasing power, leaving behind low and moderate income families whose housing needs cannot generate effective market demand. The consequence is growing housing inequality, with many low-income families trapped in precarious living conditions… De-commodifying and de-financializing housing is key. This means expanding community housing, prioritizing community-based solutions and ensuring long-term security for all.
Tags: economy, homelessness, housing, ideology, jurisdiction, privatization
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Only the United States benefits from renegotiating the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade deal
Monday, September 30th, 2024
Ideologically, the U.S. is no longer the free-trade champion it was… concessions are highly unlikely to convince the U.S. — regardless of which party is in power — to surrender the most potent weapon it has in its arsenal to pressure its neighbours to adopt its preferred policies. Policy reform, simply put, leads to U.S. market access… The 2018 CUSMA didn’t preserve free trade in North America. It signalled its demise and the return of power politics to our most important economic relationship.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, jurisdiction
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
The hard truths Mark Carney’s economic turnaround plan must address
Sunday, September 29th, 2024
… trade barriers among provinces and territories reduce economic activity by as much as $200 billion per year. And lack of harmonization of rules, regulations and standards among jurisdictions stunts economic and productivity growth, elevates consumer prices, restricts labour mobility and slows the pace of new housing construction… Restoring the federal portion of the GST to its original seven per cent would generate about $28 billion in government revenues in 2028-29… equal to almost three-quarters of this year’s projected federal deficit.
Tags: economy, pensions, Seniors, tax
Posted in Debates | 1 Comment »
This group of [Indigenous] investors is making major acquisitions in Canada. The results could benefit us all
Saturday, August 10th, 2024
… at least 111 Indigenous communities have obtained or announced equity stakes in Canadian businesses in the past two years alone… Wind power, oil and gas, solar generation and electricity transmission account for about three-quarters of the First Nations, Métis and Inuit investments… Indigenous ownership in projects mitigates land-claims conflict, reduces regulatory risks for all investors, and creates other spinoff benefits.
Tags: economy, Indigenous, jurisdiction, participation, standard of living
Posted in Debates | No Comments »
Out of work? You may be out of luck. Why getting EI is harder than it’s ever been
Saturday, August 10th, 2024
The program is running a honking great cumulative deficit because of the pandemic and improving access would mean hiking premiums or adding federal funding. Both options are no-fly zones for politicians these days… They have doubled EI sickness benefits, from 15 to 26 weeks; introduced extensions in EI caregiving and parental benefits; and added EI funding for training. But changes to regular jobless benefits have been temporary and targeted, despite repeated promises for deeper reforms. They’ve neither addressed workers’ needs in the 21st century, nor EI’s core purpose.
Tags: economy, participation, standard of living
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »
Who wants you to believe taxes have risen 2000 per cent? Would-be Prime Minister Pierre Poilievre for a start
Thursday, August 8th, 2024
For decades the Fraser Institute has been using its ample resources to disconnect taxes in the public’s mind from all the benefits, services, programs and infrastructure that taxes provide… the effective tax rate Canadians pay has increased by 28 per cent since 1961… But… government today provides a lot more benefits than it did in 1961 — most notably, universal health coverage and old age pensions — major programs that have become essential to the well-being and financial security of Canadians.
Tags: economy, Health, ideology, pensions, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
The Danger of Poilievre’s ‘Axe the Tax’ Scam Hits Home
Monday, August 5th, 2024
Opposition to climate action stems mostly from Canada’s largely foreign-owned fossil fuel industry, American dark-money-funded think tanks and Canada’s major newspaper chain, owned by American hedge funds… Emissions are being reduced, and with the Canada Carbon Rebate the vast majority of Canadians are financially better off under pollution pricing… Canada cannot slogan its way out of the climate crisis
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Nearly half of dementia cases can be prevented or delayed, a major new study suggests. Here’s how
Friday, August 2nd, 2024
We need policymakers to take a “population health approach” to preventing dementia… That includes ensuring equitable access to community services, such as group exercise programs, and medical devices… hearing aids, for example… Livingston’s team outlined 13 population-level recommendations for policymakers, addressing each of dementia’s 14 modifiable risk factors.
Tags: disabilities, economy, Health, mental Health, Seniors, standard of living
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »