As we emerge from the COVID crisis, attention is shifting to the economic recovery. How quickly can Canada’s economy grow, replace lost jobs, raise incomes, and support government programs and suddenly higher public debt?
A critical growth driver is business investment. Capital spending on buildings, engineering infrastructure, machinery and equipment, and intellectual property creates demand as it occurs. Even more important, once complete, the buildings, infrastructure, machinery, R&D and software equip workers with the tools they need to produce, compete and earn higher wages.
Unhappily, GDP numbers released Tuesday by Statistics Canada reinforce a bleak message from recent C.D. Howe Institute research. We now have…
The green bond market was growing rapidly until the pandemic hit in 2020 and its progress stalled under economic shutdowns. As the recovery unfolds, green bonds – fixed-income securities used to finance sustainable projects – appear poised to resume their trajectory, in Canada and abroad. But should the federal (and provincial) governments get into the action with their own green bond issues?
In a recent C.D. Howe Institute paper, I argue there are many good reasons for Ottawa to issue its own green bonds; chief among them is the setting of a benchmark price that can help build overall market capacity in Canada. The other key question is how the federal government can best play a role.
These bonds instruments,…
One of the first steps Joe Biden took upon assuming office was to end the Trump administration’s blocking of the appointment of a new director-general of the World Trade Organization. With the United States now on side, WTO members quickly elected Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala from Nigeria as its new head.
Although not known to the general public (the heads of these intergovernmental bodies rarely are), she has impressive credentials: A Harvard and MIT grad and former managing director of the World Bank, she served twice as Nigeria’s finance minister between 2003 and 2015 while holding U.S.-Nigerian dual citizenship. She was given high marks for her performance in those roles.
Her election is an important step forward for the WTO,…
