Posts Tagged ‘privatization’
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Why Big Business is a punching bag in U.S. campaign
The current U.S. campaign has seen attacks on Ford Motor Co., Apple Inc. and Kraft Heinz Co. for shipping jobs overseas… The financial markets are a moral cesspool… Big Business is accused of habitually poking its snout in the trough of corporate welfare… where would it begin in trying to counter the popular antipathy toward it? … How would Big Business defend itself against the excessive executive pay… the main reason… is that investors would be aroused.
Tags: crime prevention, economy, globalization, ideology, privatization, standard of living
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Ban corporate and union political donations in Ontario
… selling political access to a few movers and shakers who can afford it isn’t a hallmark of democracy. Ontario should take a lesson from other jurisdictions and end corporate and union contributions… It’s vital for public decisions to be made “in the public interest, not in the interests of a few well-financed political supporters.” That quote is from an Ontario Liberal campaign document dating from 2003, when the party pledged to take steps to limit the pull of money in politics.
Tags: ideology, participation, privatization, standard of living
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The good and the bad in Ontario’s budget
Classical economists like Adam Smith or Mill… exposed the scam and insisted on distinguishing between productive and unproductive wealth… today’s feudal wastrels, sucking up wealth via interest that could’ve created something, are in FIRE: finance, insurance, real estate… Today they’re more likely to try to conscript the common possessions of a society: “natural monopolies” like highways (since you can’t have competing highways), public schools, or energy utilities.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology, privatization, standard of living, tax
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To revive Canada’s economy, reward those who pitch in
The new advisory council is being asked to recommend ways that Canada can… “create the long-term conditions for economic growth.”… private enterprises deserve a strong foundation built on social licence… ventures that make a contribution to society should be granted special privileges… The proposal would temporarily “socialize” private-sector gains by keeping them at work creating jobs and wealth, and enhancing government revenues.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, privatization, standard of living, tax
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The world according to business
… the Fraser Institute pointed out that the CPP, despite the size of its asset base, was not cheaper to administer (in a ratio between assets and costs) than other public sector pension funds. The finding, essentially? That CPP should not be expanded and an Ontario Pension Plan should not be launched (thereby saving business owners money). What the study didn’t point out, is that an ever-growing number of Canadians will have none of those better-performing pension funds to fall back on. CPP may be their only option — but don’t expand it, for God’s sake.
Tags: economy, featured, ideology, participation, pensions, poverty, privatization, standard of living
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Canada mustn’t walk away from ratifying TPP trade deal
World trade was stalled with the demise of the WTO’s trade negotiations (known as the Doha Round). TPP is by far the most ambitious attempt to restart it… No country in the world is more dependent on the progress of multilateral trade than Canada. Are we better off fighting trade disputes with huge countries alone or with an army of partners? The question answers itself… There are sectors in Canada that will be challenged by the agreement, to be sure.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, participation, privatization, rights, standard of living
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EU quietly asks Canada to rework trade deal’s thorny investment clause
The investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism Canada negotiated on CETA was consistent with other deals… But critics point to how expensive things can get for taxpayers when corporations sue governments for interfering with trade. Americans have proven particularly skilled at winning, or dragging out, these disputes. And that’s the problem… Anti-American suspicions have fuelled an anti-trade movement… in key countries like Germany and France.
Tags: economy, featured, globalization, ideology, privatization, rights
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Trudeau’s right on taxes
Tax laws allow lawyers, accountants, dentists, and other professionals to provide services to their employers through personal services corporations, rather than as employees… Professionals providing services through a personal services corporation are taxed at the lower small business rate on the first $500,000 of income. In Ontario, the combined federal and provincial rate is 11%, dropping to 9% by 2019, while mere individuals face a marginal tax rate of 46%.
Tags: featured, ideology, privatization, rights, standard of living, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | 1 Comment »
Trans-Pacific Partnership is a wonderful idea – for China
… the TPP authors appear keen to return us to the era of 19th-century trade secrets…. the current U.S. patent system is detrimental to innovation. Extensive research has demonstrated that the more patents are issued in a technological area, the less innovation results. This is in direct contradiction of the basic rationale for having a patent system, which is the granting of a limited monopoly in exchange for higher rates of innovation and faster diffusion of new knowledge.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, privatization, standard of living
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