Posts Tagged ‘economy’

« Older Entries | Newer Entries »

Invest in colleges now to rebuild Ontario after COVID-19: OPSEU

Thursday, April 2nd, 2020

“It takes $4.7 billion to operate Ontario’s colleges… About $1.1 billion – almost a quarter – comes from international student tuition. As the government has cut funding, colleges have relied more and more on international students to make up the shortfall. With COVID-19, and without joint problem solving, that income will dry up – and so will college revenues. We’re looking at a postsecondary education catastrophe in the making.”

Tags: , ,
Posted in Education Delivery System | No Comments »


They’re World War deficit levels, but not the biggest or the baddest yet

Wednesday, April 1st, 2020

The deficits being projected now look to be roughly 5 to 8 per cent of GDP… The 1984 deficit was 8.1 per cent of GDP, when the economy was recovering from the 1982 recession and interest rates paid on the national debt were high. But in those terms, the deficits are not on the scale of the Second World War, when military production and defence spending pushed the annual deficit to 23 per cent of GDP in 1943. A comparable deficit in 2020 would be nearly $500-billion… Canada has seen worse.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in History | No Comments »


Their work is keeping Canada safe. But they earn a fraction of the national average

Tuesday, March 31st, 2020

From food processing to warehouses to delivery services, the workers deemed essential to maintaining the country’s vital supply chain are significantly more likely to be low-wage and racialized compared to the rest of the labour market… “We have to really look at governments to respond in a longer term manner by increasing minimum wages, easing access to unionization, and increasing both protections and enforcement under minimum employment standards”

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Debates | No Comments »


We can’t just pick up the pieces after the pandemic subsides – we need to keep them together

Monday, March 30th, 2020

… All governments are being affected by dramatic losses in revenues, but, as with a virus, the impact is not universally the same. Some economies are more robust than others. These issues cannot be allowed to fester. They will need to be addressed. So too the continuing inequalities affecting Indigenous people and communities as well as the homeless and others deeply marginalized now stare us in the face…

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »


Coronavirus has shown us we were living in an economic fairy tale

Monday, March 30th, 2020

… in late 2008, something extraordinary happens. Instead of allowing the system to fail as capitalism calls for, governments bail out the system. By doing so, they save the same people that created the crisis in the first place, effectively guaranteeing their wins and socializing their losses.
The “real” value of your cash is destroyed as new money is created out of thin air and the system is bailed out… Everyone once again believes in the fairy tale.

Tags: ,
Posted in Debates | No Comments »


Trudeau says businesses, non-profits, charities all eligible for wage subsidy

Monday, March 30th, 2020

The federal government has vastly expanded the 75-per-cent wage subsidy for small businesses to include large companies as well as charities and non-profits to encourage them to keep workers on the payroll during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told his daily news conference Monday that the generous subsidy will be open to any business or organization that has suffered a 30-per-cent drop in revenue as a result of the coronavirus.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »


Ottawa Delivers 1-2 Punch To Prevent Layoffs And Mitigate Economic Harm

Sunday, March 29th, 2020

Across the economy, businesses and not-for-profits are losing revenue and laying workers off. A chain reaction from job loss would be a major reason why people anticipate a deep recession and double-digit unemployment. In this edition of Graphic Intelligence, we show how Ottawa’s announcement to cover wage costs alters the chain reaction and mitigates the economic impacts of COVID-19.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Policy Context | No Comments »


Keep it quiet, but universal basic income is coming

Friday, March 27th, 2020

The rise of fascism and the Second World War required the creation of the full welfare state (which was previously restricted to meagre old age pensions) to avoid a replay the next time the economy tanked. The current emergency may be fostering the rise of ideas previously seen as too radical to contemplate, but nobody is saying “universal basic income” yet.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in History | No Comments »


There is no perfect economic response for Canada’s coronavirus shutdown

Friday, March 27th, 2020

There’s been a flurry of debate about the best method to get help to individuals in this crisis. Should it be delivered by way of targeted income-support programs, such as the CERB? Should the money instead go to employers, in the form of a wage subsidy, enabling them to keep paying their employees, even if they aren’t doing anything? Or should the government just mail everyone a cheque… the amount depending on their income – a universal, if temporary, basic income?

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Debates | No Comments »


Basic income is the answer to a COVID-stricken economy

Wednesday, March 25th, 2020

Let’s choose universal payments that can be in the mail next week rather than applying complex new formulas to an already dysfunctional system. It’s time for an emergency basic income to ensure hundreds of thousands of Canadians don’t fall through the cracks. Perhaps, like other plans that are drawn up in a crisis, we’ll discover that it makes sense to keep a basic income once this particular emergency is over. Because COVID-19 won’t be the last major setback to the Canadian economy.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Debates | No Comments »


« Older Entries | Newer Entries »