What's behind the opposition to a bigger, better CPP?
Today, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said he is opposed to the provincial proposal to expand the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) because it is not a “modest” proposal and would cost jobs. In...
Economy needs infrastructure boost, not belt-tightening
In October, 2011, two leading U.S. economists, Nobel prize-winner Paul Krugman and Lawrence Summers, squared off in Toronto in the high-profile Munk Debates. At issue was the question of whether North America faced...
Pope Francis and Catholicism's long ignored progressive tradition
The wrath of the biblical prophets was often directed at those who enjoyed the inequality of their riches while ignoring the needs of the vulnerable at the other end of...
Grey Cup victory, forgotten history
Grey Cup 101 is in the books. The green and white confetti has been trampled over, the line-ups at the Roughrider stores are no longer out the door, and fans...
On industrial policy and free trade
The current debate over the proposed Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the EU typically pits “free-traders” against “protectionists”. Free-trade proponents are depicted as those who accept...
No shortage of workers – just a shortage of training
Two major recent studies – from Derek Burleton and his colleagues at Toronto-Dominion Bank, and from former senior federal government official Cliff Halliwell published by the Institute for Research on Public Policy –...
Cynically hiding our heads in the (oil) sands
First she was against Northern Gateway — now she’s for it. What a difference an election makes. B.C. Premier Christy Clark’s reversal on the Northern Gateway pipeline project is typical of...
Innovation: re-thinking the role of the state
Mariana Mazzucato’s new book The Entrepreneurial State: Debunking Public vs. Private Sector Myths, has created some buzz: her Ted Talk has been widely shared, and the book is being discussed by the Economist, the...
Economy’s supposed slow recovery is really a ‘secular stagnation’
In 1939, the United States and much of the world were still struggling to exit the Great Depression that had begun a decade earlier. In that context, Alvin Hansen –...
Rob Ford and the truth about privilege
Renowned lawyer Clayton Ruby’s intervention into the Rob Ford spectacle got me thinking about the ways in which this civic mess has unfolded. Namely, it has brought into focus how privilege continues...
