Telecom Sector Investments Key to Future Prosperity: Telecommunications Working Group
February 23, 2021 – Investment in the telecommunications sector is vital for ensuring Canada’s next generation digital infrastructure, says a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute.
At their recent meetings, the Telecommunications Working Group identified and discussed policy challenges facing Canada’s telecommunications sector. The group of experts in both the private sector and academia is co-chaired by Len Waverman, Dean of DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University; and Steve Orsini, Adjunct Professor, Public Policy & Administration, Carleton University and former Ontario Secretary of Cabinet.
The shift to remote work and digital services due to COVID-19 underscores how essential reliable and…
Stimulus Spending if Necessary, but not Necessarily Stimulus Spending: C.D. Howe Institute Fiscal and Tax Working Group
February 17, 2021 – Any further debt-financed stimulus should be temporary, essential, and targeted to improving the economy’s productive capacity, says a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute.
At their most recent meeting, the Fiscal and Tax Working Group discussed what form new fiscal stimulus should take, but remained unconvinced that a large stimulus package is appropriate at this time. In addition, with federal debt rising rapidly, members argued that any new permanent programs should be tax-financed.
The group of experts from the private sector and academia, co-chaired by John Manley, former federal minister of finance, and Janice MacKinnon, former minister of finance of Saskatchewan, noted that new spending should…
Bank of Canada Should Hold Overnight Rate at 0.25 Percent, Maintain Government Bond Purchases: C.D. Howe Institute Monetary Policy Council
January 14, 2021 – The C.D. Howe Institute’s Monetary Policy Council (MPC) recommends that the Bank of Canada keep its target for the overnight rate, its benchmark policy interest rate, at 0.25 percent at least until January of 2022. A majority of MPC members also recommends that the Bank of Canada maintain its current quantitative easing purchases of Government of Canada bonds.
The MPC provides an independent assessment of the monetary stance consistent with the Bank of Canada’s 2 percent inflation target. William Robson, the Institute’s CEO, chairs the Council. The Council’s principal recommendations are about the overnight rate target. Members make recommendations for the Bank of Canada’s upcoming interest-rate…
Competition Law Has Teeth to Oversee Digital Marketplace: C.D. Howe Institute Competition Policy Council
January 7, 2021 – Competition law enforcement should be the first defense for addressing anti-competitive behaviour in the digital marketplace, according to a report from a C.D. Howe Institute council.
Canada’s statutory framework for competition law enforcement continues to provide a robust and flexible toolkit to address anti-competitive behaviour. As such, in response to a growing movement both internationally and domestically for the regulation of “big data,” competition law should provide the framework for addressing concerns about the market conduct of digital platforms, and direct regulation should be the last resort.
This is the majority view of the C.D. Howe Institute’s Competition Policy Council, which held its…
End of Recession Too Early to Call: C.D. Howe Institute Business Cycle Council
December 17, 2020 – Despite economic recovery since April, it is too early to call the end of the recession, according to a new C.D. Howe Institute Business Cycle Council report.
The Council, comprised of Canada’s preeminent economists in the field and co-chaired by Steve Ambler and Jeremy Kronick, is an arbiter of business cycle dates in Canada. The Council typically meets annually, but also when economic conditions indicate the possibility of entry to, or exit from, a recession.
The Council met on December 7 to review the case for calling April 2020 as the end of the recession based on signs of economic recovery since then.
Entering and exiting a recession implies a change in the direction of economic…
