Posts Tagged ‘privatization’
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Greedy financiers undermine free markets
These modern-day speculators combine rapid reflexes and sophisticated algorithms to exploit the ups and downs of the stock market. “Hedge fund managers don’t care whether the companies in their portfolios do well or badly — they just want stock prices to be volatile,” he says. “What is more they want the volatility to be extreme: The more prices move up or down, the greater the earning potential.” So they deliberately create upheaval.
Tags: economy, featured, globalization, ideology, privatization, standard of living
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Where Mark Carney and Naomi Klein agree
Carney, talking to his audience of corporate interests and pension fund investors, referred to a “tragedy of horizons.” By this he meant the tendency of capitalists — governments, corporations and investors — to look only to the near-term and not the future. If there’s profit around the corner and doom in the distance, capitalism will always be loitering locally.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, privatization, rights, standard of living
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If tax cuts are Stephen Harper’s re-election Plan A, he may need a Plan B
… voter resistance to the government has grown to extent that a few hundred bucks thrown here and there may prove inadequate to the cause. The cuts Mr. Harper have in mind seem more suited to fulfilling ideological agendas than winning back straying Conservatives… If you’re going to buy votes, it would make sense to spread the bribe as widely as possible. Instead the Conservatives continue to focus on pockets of voters with narrowly-defined offers that may attract the few at the expense of the many.
Tags: budget, economy, featured, ideology, privatization, tax
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Our Invisible Rich
… the wealth of the top percent has surged relative to everyone else — rising from 25 percent of total wealth in 1973 to 40 percent now — but… the great bulk of that rise has taken place among the top 0.1 percent, the richest one-thousandth of Americans… Pundits sometimes wonder why American voters don’t care more about inequality; part of the answer is that they don’t realize how extreme it is. And defenders of the superrich take advantage of that ignorance.
Tags: economy, ideology, privatization, standard of living
Posted in Equality Debates | No Comments »
Provinces should pressure Ottawa on pharmacare
Canada is the only developed country that offers universal health insurance but not universal prescription drug coverage. As a result, one in 10 Canadians cannot afford to fill the prescriptions their doctors write — yet Canadians spend more on pharmaceuticals than any other comparable country… Currently, there is no national standard for drug coverage in Canada. We rely on a patchwork of private and public payers working at odds with each other, and not in the interest of patients.
Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, jurisdiction, pharmaceutical, privatization, standard of living
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
Look closely, U.S. conservatives: Harper’s not a new Thatcher
He talks a good game and his personal convictions undoubtedly skew right. But he governs in that great Canadian tradition of pragmatic meddling. The state is no less involved in our lives. In some ways, it’s become more interventionist… The heavy lifting, when it comes to shrinking federal expenditures as a share of the Canadian economy, was set in motion under Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin. All Mr. Harper has done is push the cruise control button.
Tags: budget, crime prevention, economy, ideology, privatization, tax
Posted in Governance Policy Context | No Comments »
Prepare for the Coming Crush of Long-Term Care Patients
A multi-pronged solution to better target means-tested public subsidies and allow growth of private insurance and savings should be pursued, according to the authors. Policymakers could do so in a manner that assures LTC access for those who need it but can’t afford it. And because many Canadians today believe, somewhat falsely, that governments will pay for their future LTC costs, reforms must encourage individuals to take on greater responsibility to pay for their own future LTC.
Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, ideology, mental Health, pensions, privatization, standard of living, tax
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
We are assured CETA is ‘a historic win’ for Canada. Why can’t we judge for ourselves?
Canada is a democracy, but all laws are not created equal. Our domestic laws are submitted and resubmitted, debated and amended before achieving royal assent. In the matter of international trade, however, a mix of law and tradition gives the executive branch exclusive authority… With a strategic ways and means bill, the legislature need not be involved at all… Between executive dominance of an ever-expanding trade agenda and the disproportionate influence of foreign corporations, popular accountability is eroding in our otherwise well-functioning democracy.
Tags: economy, featured, globalization, ideology, participation, privatization, rights, standard of living
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
Investor-State Dispute Settlement in the TTIP and CETA
One of the most controversial elements of modern trade treaties is the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism, which allows foreign investors to bypass domestic courts and directly challenge government measures before unaccountable arbitration tribunals… Faced with unprecedented levels of public criticism, however, the European Commission has paused the TTIP negotiations on ISDS in order to consult the public… CCPA’s senior trade policy researcher, argues that there is no credible justification for including ISDS in either the CETA or the TTIP.
Tags: economy, featured, globalization, ideology, privatization, standard of living
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There’s a lot more to the economy than simply business
The Department of Finance this week announced the make-up of its Economic Advisory Council for the coming year. It has 16 members, who will be paid $1 plus expenses… What is surprising is that [Jack Mintz] is the only professional economist on the Economic Advisory Council. Almost all the rest are presidents and CEOs… But there’s a lot more to the economy than simply business… Who will speak for consumers and workers on this Economic Advisory Council?
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, privatization
Posted in Governance Debates | No Comments »
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