Don Drummond – Should $70 To $100 Billion Of Fiscal Stimulus Be Used, And On What?
From: Don Drummond To: Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland Date: January 26, 2021 Re: Should $70 to $100 Billion of Fiscal Stimulus Be Used, and on What? Ottawa’s Fall Fiscal Statement set aside $70 to $100 billion through 2023-24 for possible fiscal stimulus to “build a stronger, more inclusive, more innovative and more resilient economy.” Careful reflection is needed […] Glen Hodgson – How Badly Damaged Is The Canadian Economy?
From: Glen Hodgson To: Canadian Economy Watchers Date: January 19, 2021 Re: How Badly Damaged is the Canadian Economy? Along with much of the world, Canada’s economy has suffered from the pandemic and other events in 2020, notably the shock to global oil markets. How bad? An examination of the immediate data and longer trends indicates significant damage, […] How much has the COVID-19 pandemic damaged the economy? – Globe and Mail Op-Ed
Along with much of the world, Canada’s economy has suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic and other events in 2020, notably the shock to global oil markets. How badly? An examination of the immediate data and longer trends indicates significant damage, with a lengthy recovery period ahead.
Let’s start with labour markets, where there are signs of recovery but also growing evidence of damage. The unemployment rate exploded to nearly 14 per cent from 6 per cent during the shutdown from March to May. The rate has dropped steadily since as many displaced workers have been re-engaged, but the second pandemic wave and renewed shutdowns in many provinces have meant more job losses. Employment fell by 63,000 in December, and…
Amin Mawani – Cerb Repayments And Taxpayer Recourse
From: Amin Mawani To: Canadians Concerned about CERB Repayments Date: January 8, 2021 Re: CERB Repayments and Taxpayer Recourse Almost 441,000 Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) recipients (or 5 percent of the 8.9 million unique recipients) have received “education letters” saying they may need to repay some or all of their benefits. Hypothetically, if each repayment were to average […] William B.P. Robson – Let’s Drop The ‘We Can’t Go Back’ Post-covid Fantasies
From: William B.P. Robson To: Canadians Contemplating 2021 Date: January 5, 2021 Re: Let’s Drop the ‘We Can’t Go Back’ Post-COVID Fantasies Of all the COVID-inspired clichés of 2020, “we can’t go back to how we were before” gets my vote for most trying. Taken literally, it is empty. We can’t undo the deaths, restore students’ lost instruction, […] 2020 Hindsight – William Robson: Our Year Of Magical Thinking – Financial Post Op-ed
Of all the COVID-inspired clichés of 2020, “we can’t go back to how we were before” gets my vote for most trying.
Taken literally, it is empty. We can’t undo the deaths, restore students’ lost instruction, give young people the first jobs they didn’t get, erase the huge debts, enjoy the travel and human contact that didn’t happen. No, we can’t go back to 2019 — which is too bad.
Taken as an exhortation — “we shouldn’t go back to how we were before” — it is too often a prelude to magical thinking, a great leap to some environmental, economic or political nirvana previously out of reach. That is silly. A sick person who was never an athlete can dream of completing a triathlon. But their first task is to recover. In the same…
Don Drummond – Through The Fiscal Fog: Large Deficits And Debt As Far As The Eye Can See
From: Don Drummond To: Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Date: December 16, 2020 Re: Through the Fiscal Fog: Large Deficits and Debt as Far as the Eye Can See I recently set out four wildly differing federal fiscal scenarios for the future. Recent Government of Canada announcements lift the fog enough […] Christian Leuprecht – By Gambling On A Free Lunch, The Federal Government Is Making A Daring Fiscal Bet
From: Christian Leuprecht To: Canadians concerned about the deficit Date: December 7, 2020 Re: By Gambling on a Free Lunch, the Federal Government is Making a Daring Fiscal Bet The economic statement last week projects the largest single-year budgetary deficit since Canada began keeping track in 1966-67: $381.6 billion. That deficit is greater than the total federal spending of $375 billion in the […] La Vraie Menace Pour Les Finances Publiques : Le Coût Des Soins De Santé à Long Terme – La Presse Opinion
Une chatte n’y retrouverait pas ses petits dans le fatras de chiffres présentés dans l’énoncé économique de la ministre des Finances Chrystia Freeland, lundi dernier. À telle enseigne que la Nationale s’excusait dans une note à ses clients d’une « explication quelque peu tortueuse ».
Comment y voir clair quand l’économie et les finances publiques baignent encore dans une grande incertitude en raison de la pandémie. Selon des hypothèses plus ou moins pessimistes, le déficit fédéral pour l’exercice en cours se situera quelque part entre 382 et 400 milliards de dollars.
Si on s’en remet aux mots plutôt qu’aux chiffres qui donnent le tournis, il faut se rendre à l’évidence que ce choc économique et budgétaire…
Laurin, Robson – Under The Rug: Pitfalls Abound In Reporting Federal Employee Pension Obligations
From: Alexandre Laurin and William B.P. Robson To: Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland Date: December 3, 2020 Re: Under the Rug: Pitfalls Abound in Reporting Federal Employee Pension Obligations The federal government’s fall economic update included some unfamiliar lines in its fiscal projections. Its Summary Statement of Transactions presented totals for the federal government’s expenses and the budget balance […] Jon Johnson – France’s Digital Services Tax And Section 301: A Cautionary Tale
From: Jon Johnson To: Global Affairs Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency Date: December 1, 2020 Re: France’s Digital Services Tax and Section 301 – A Cautionary Tale France has begun trying to collect its digital services tax (DST) from US companies, bringing this simmering issue between France and the US to a head. The […] Bill Robson on BNN – I would like to see a five-year track: C.D. Howe CEO on fiscal update
Bill Robson, CEO of the C.D. Howe Institute talks about his expectations for the fiscal update and wanting to at least see where the federal government sees revenues and spending projections for the coming years, even amid COVID-19 uncertainty.