Bafale, Spence – Expanding Competition in the Canadian Banking Sector
To: Canada’s Policymakers From: Mawakina Bafale and Andrew Spence Date: April 24, 2023 Re: Expanding Competition in the Canadian Banking Sector Canada’s recent record on business investment has been jarring in its weakness, with available capital per worker in a sustained decline that undermines the economy’s capacity for productivity growth, innovation and dynamism. This is […] Climate subsidies like Canada’s $13-billion for Volkswagen herald new trade wars – Globe and Mail Op-Ed
As governments subsidize ever-expanding decarbonization measures, including Volkswagen’s St. Thomas, Ont., battery plant that got $13 billion from Canada, there are clouds gathering on the trade horizon.
Canada had matched what Volkswagen would have gotten under similar, American subsidies. Many of these national measures to aid the transition to net-zero emissions, even if based on the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris climate-change agreement, may run headlong against trade rules that prohibit both the subsidization of goods that enter international markets as well as local content requirements that discriminate against imports.
Governments have to find accommodation or the world could be in store for a…
Barry Gros – Achieving Sustainability in Target Benefit Pension Plans
To: Ontario’s Pension Policy Branch From: Barry Gros Date: April 21, 2023 Re: Achieving Sustainability in Target Benefit Pension Plans The Ontario Ministry of Finance released its Consultation Document on the regulation of target benefit pension plans (TBs) last month with a request for comments by June 30. Yesterday we evaluated it against recommendations previously […]Canada’s Labour Shortage with Mikal Skuterud
As we come out on the other side of COVID-19, Canada’s labour shortage is quickly improving. However, as C.D. Howe Institute Fellow-In-Residence and University of Waterloo Economics Professor Mikal Skuterud tells us on episode seven, the fuel for the economic recovery requires targeted immigration. Barry Gros – A Scorecard Grading Ontario’s Proposed Framework for Target Benefits
To: Ontario’s Pension Policy Branch From: Barry Gros Date: April 20, 2023 Re: A Scorecard Grading Ontario’s Proposed Framework for Target Benefits The Ontario Ministry of Finance released a Consultation Document on the regulation of target benefit pension plans last month, with a request for feedback by June 30. The C.D. Howe Institute has published […]Don Drummond – It was Hard, but the Bank of Canada was Right to Hold its Course on Interest Rates
From: Don Drummond To: Interest rate observers Date: April 19, 2023 Re: It was Hard, but the Bank of Canada was Right to Hold its Course on Interest Rates At its interest-rate setting on March 8, the Bank of Canada paused its months-long hiking campaign and left unchanged its target for the overnight interest rate at 4.5 percent. Being […]Did the U.S. financial crisis make the Bank of Canada’s job easier? – Financial Post Op-Ed
Last week, the Bank of Canada held its overnight rate, its benchmark policy rate, at 4.5 per cent. No surprises there. In its last announcement, the bank told us the data were consistent with their view that, with the target rate where it is, inflation would come back down to three per cent by the middle of this year. Data since have not changed governing council’s view that at present more tightening wasn’t necessary.
In fact, if anything, the major economic development over the last six weeks, the failures of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank, as well as the emergency takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS Group AG, made caution even more prudent. Furthermore, it might actually make the…
Are Interest Rates Now High?
The Bank of Canada’s key policy interest rate, the target for the overnight rate, is now 425 basis points higher than in early March 2022 (0.25 to 4.5 percent). The sharp increase has led to a perception interest rates are now high and some puzzlement that has not dampened economic activity more. But are interest […] Heath care will only succeed through collaboration, not through competition – Toronto Star Op-Ed
In the real world of health service delivery, the last three years have taught us a great deal. The pandemic has been a test of endurance for health care workers for sure, but it has also tested our ability as a collective system to do something we don’t do enough of: work together.
Here is an incomplete list of the results:
We procured massive quantities of supplies and distributed them across the country: Personal Protective Equipment; swabs; hand sanitizer; ventilators. We massively ramped up testing capacity; stood up assessment centres, drive-through clinics, mobile outreach teams. We trained and retrained health care workers; instituted billing codes and protocols for COVID@Home clinics and virtual care for people…Game On: The Implications of the US Inflation Reduction Act for Canadian Competitiveness
The reality of climate change and the imperative to sharply reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is now being addressed by policymakers in many countries, with the potential to transform the underpinnings of the North American and global economy. This E-Brief examines US climate policy and industrial policy in the Inflation Reduction Act, assesses its coverage and […]