Bafale, Robson – Canadian Investment in Intellectual Property Products is Too Low
To: Canada’s Minister of Finance, Chrystia Freeland From: Mawakina Bafale and William B.P. Robson Date: May 9, 2022 Re: Canadian Investment in Intellectual Property Products is Too Low Minister, your 2022 federal budget rightly highlighted the importance of economic growth for Canadians’ future prosperity and the fiscal health of Canadian governments. Much of the budget’s […] Ken Boessenkool on The Agenda – Can Campaign Politics Meet Economic Realties?
How do the economic plans Ontario’s political parties have in place stack up against what Ontarians are really experiencing, especially as they emerge from two years of affordability issues caused by the pandemic. The Agenda asks: Ken Boessenkool, Research Fellow at C.D. Howe Institute and Senior Fellow at Smart Prosperity; Allison Christians, Professor, H. Heward Stikeman Chair in Tax Law, McGill University; and Armine Yalnizyan, Economist, Atkinson Fellow On The Future Of Workers.
Need for monetary-policy independence will be stronger than ever in months ahead – Globe and Mail Op-Ed
Periods when inflation is low and few people are paying attention to central banking are happy times.
In Canada, these are not happy times. Inflation is high and the Bank of Canada is under scrutiny. Unhappiness will increase as the bank increases its policy interest rate to get inflation back to its 2-per-cent target, because tighter monetary policy will pinch consumers and businesses before it reduces inflation.
That poses risks – notably that politics will interfere with monetary policy. Since politicians don’t like monetary-policy pinches, interference could result in inflation staying higher for longer. Odd as it may seem when the Bank of Canada has already let inflation get so far above target, continuing to protect…
Daniel Schwanen – It’s Still Too Early to Write off the Shopping Mall
To: Canadian Shoppers From: Daniel Schwanen Date: May 6, 2022 Re: It’s Still Too Early to Write off the Shopping Mall Retail trade data for February show a continuing rebound for in-person shopping relative to the online variety, as people-to-people interactions emerged from restrictions imposed during the pandemic. Retail e-commerce – which includes curbside pickups – was a lifeline for Canadian […]The impact of Russian sanctions will last for decades – Globe and Mail Op-Ed
Last week the Canadian and American governments announced plans to liquidate Russian assets frozen by sanctions and to distribute the funds to affected victims and to war-torn countries. The measures have been devised to inflict even greater penalties on that country as a result of its illegal invasion of Ukraine and the appalling atrocities committed by Russian forces there in recent weeks.
As the ground war grinds on, this is a significant escalation of the parallel sanctions battle, illustrating their ever-expanding reach and presaging long-lasting effects on international business, not only involving Russia but with potential expansion to other places where Western sanctions apply, such as Myanmar, Iran and Syria.
In…
Goldman, Taylor, Cartel, Schwartz – Proposed Revision of the Efficiency Defence for Mergers in Canada’s Competition Act
To: The Hon. Francois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry From: Calvin Goldman, Richard Taylor, Nicholas Cartel, and Larry Schwartz Date: May 4, 2022 Re: Proposed Revision of the Efficiency Defence for Mergers in Canada’s Competition Act The Competition Bureau’s 67-page submission to Senator Howard Wetston’s Competition Act consultation process used about 20 pages to […] Krane, Musgrove – Drip Pricing Amendments to the Competition Act
To: The Hon. Francois-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry From: Joshua Krane and James Musgrove Date: May 3, 2022 Re: Drip Pricing Amendments to the Competition Act Proposed amendments to sections 52(1.2) and 74.01(1.1) of the Competition Act would prohibit “drip pricing,” where consumers are shown one price, but end up facing higher […] Vaccines for the Next Pandemic: A Prescription for Canada
The frequency of viral outbreaks and pandemics in the last two decades, including the current COVID-19 pandemic, has focussed attention on Canada’s lack of preparedness, vaccine supply shortages and production self-sufficiency. There have been calls for a…Home Remedies: How Should Canada Acquire Vaccines for the Next Pandemic?
The frequency of viral outbreaks and pandemics in the last two decades, including the current COVID pandemic, has focussed attention on Canada’s pandemic preparedness generally and its pandemic vaccine development and production self-sufficiency, in particular. As Canada faced disruptions in the supply of COVID vaccines from other countries, there were numerous calls for a […] Edward Iacobucci – The Competition Bureau’s Approach to the Efficiencies Defence
From: Edward Iacobucci To: Competition Law observers Date: May 2, 2022 Re: The Competition Bureau’s Approach to the Efficiencies Defence Section 96 of the Competition Act allows anticompetitive mergers as long as the efficiency gains from the merger outweigh the anticompetitive effects from the merger. The Bureau recently called for the repeal of the defence, […] Robson, Laurin – Ottawa’s Spending Addiction: $2 Billion More Each Month
From: William B.P. Robson and Alexandre Laurin To: Canadian Debt Watchers Date: April 29, 2022 Re: Ottawa’s Spending Addiction: $2 Billion More Each Month “Build back better!” We have heard that a lot since COVID hit – mainly from advocates for government spending, who saw pandemic-related fiscal stimulus, financed by central bank bond purchases, as suddenly making things […] Paul Jenkins – Interest Rates… Back to the Future
From: Paul Jenkins To: Borrowers, Savers, and Policymakers Date: April 28, 2022 Subject: Interest Rates… Back to the Future Interest rates, particularly rising interest rates, are on everyone’s mind these days. The focus is primarily alarm about rising inflation and the actions – actual or anticipated – by major central banks to bring inflation under […]