Budget 2015: It is Time to Invest, Not Cut
In the run-up to the delayed federal budget, there is a strange disconnect between fiscal policy and our changing economic circumstances. Balancing the budget seems to remain the key political...
Green transition cannot be left to provinces alone
Last week, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau appeared to back away from a national carbon price. He said some of the provinces have already implemented carbon pricing, so the federal government will...
It is time to confront Canada's staple trap
Forbidden to text while driving, you can waste your time checking the fluctuating price of gas at every gas station you see and how at each station it differs from yesterday....
Demonized industrial policy puts corporate tax cuts to shame
The words “industrial policy” have been virtually banned from polite company, and should certainly never be uttered in the presence of small and impressionable children. Many mainstream economists and conservative...
Employment income since 2006: who gained and who lost
The Harper government claims to be good economic managers pursuing a successful jobs and growth agenda. To be sure, there are many factors other than federal government policy that strongly...
Computers, jobs and rising inequality
Economists take a benign view of the impact of technological change on jobs, dismissing the "Luddite" view that technical progress can be a significant cause of unemployment. The core argument...
The social economy and the green transition
To address today’s issues of climate change, environmental degradation, and inequality, we must construct more local and resilient economies, and take back ownership of our resources. This is the key...
Workers need a New Year's raise
Wages in Canada and the other advanced economies are about as flat as left-over champagne in the glass on New Year's Day. This poses a major threat to a sustained...
The ideological roots of Harper's opposition to child care
After enduring well over a decade of broken promises, the prospects for publicly-funded child care in Canada looked good in the autumn of 2005. The Paul Martin government proposed to...
Anti-union bill shows Conservative disregard for evidence, democratic institutions
Canadians like their labour law the way they like their touques – sturdy and designed to protect. As a result, Canadian lawmakers have a long history of consulting with labour and business...
