Rushed Amendments Could Have Unintended Consequences: C.D. Howe Institute Competition Policy Council
April 28, 2022 – The C.D. Howe Institute Competition Policy Council supports the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry’s recent statement that “competition in the economy is the driving force behind innovation, efficiency and adaptability.”
However, in “Bring on the Competition: Reforming Canada’s Competition Act,” the Council’s 22nd report, it cautions that rushed amendments to the Competition Act without careful consideration and thoughtful debate could have unintended consequences for these forces in the Canadian economy. “Even perceived shortcomings in the Competition Act may not easily be addressed without unintended consequences,” according to the Council’s latest Communiqué.
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Goodhart, Peiris, Tsomocos, Wang – Corporate Legacy Debt, Inflation, and the Efficacy of Monetary Policy
From: Charles A.E. Goodhart, M. Udara Peiris, Dimitrios P. Tsomocos and Xuan Wang To: Canadians Concerned About Inflation Date: April 27, 2022 Re: Corporate Legacy Debt, Inflation, and the Efficacy of Monetary Policy Corporate debt in Canada has been increasing, alongside other advanced and emerging economies, since 2007, and the pandemic has led to a further sharp increase (See […] Winner-take-all hasn’t hit retail yet – Financial Post Op-Ed
The retail trade data for February, released Friday, show a continuing rebound in 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 when goods purchased online are subsequently picked up in a store — was a lifeline for Canadian businesses in 2020. But in-store shopping has come back with a vengeance. Despite the emergence of high-profile online suppliers, fierce competition remains the order of the day in retail.
Since peaking at 10 per cent of total sales by Canadian retailers in the first days of the pandemic, e-commerce’s share of retail sales has fallen sharply — to just over five…
Going Dutch: Choice, Competition and Equity in Healthcare
The Dutch Model: A Cure for What Ails Canadian Healthcare? As progress on modernizing Canadian healthcare delivery remains very slow, and with medical advances and an increasingly aging population, health policymakers should look to the Dutch model, which provides a good example of how managed competition can promote efficiency while preserving the principles of universal […] John Lester – Broadening the New Review of Tax Support for R&D
From: John Lester To: Canadians Concerned About Innovation Date: April 26, 2022 Re: Broadening the New Review of Tax Support for R&D Canadians concerned about our lacklustre innovation performance were cheered by the budget announcement that the Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) program would be reviewed. Canada’s business research and development performance is dismal, […] The Dutch Model: A Cure for What Ails Canadian Healthcare?
As progress on modernizing Canadian healthcare delivery remains very slow, and with medical advances and an increasingly aging population, health policymakers should look to the Dutch model, which provides a good example of how managed competition can promote…High Inflation Disease Now Affects Two-thirds Of Canadian Economy
When the year-over-year increase in the CPI rose above the top of the Bank of Canada’s 1-to-3 percent target band a year ago, disrupted supply chains for specific products and base effects received a lot of attention. Since then, it has become clear that rapid price increases are much more widespread, and much less transitory. […] Ambler, Kronick – You Cannot Fight Inflation on the Downlow
From: Steve Ambler and Jeremy M. Kronick To: Canadians Worried About Inflation Date: April 25, 2022 Re: You Cannot Fight Inflation on the Downlow With inflation on the rise, the Bank of Canada kicked its tightening cycle into high gear with a 50-basis-point increase in the target for its overnight rate – the first non-25-point hike in more than […]Building back bigger: How Ottawa grew under cover of COVID – Financial Post Op-Ed
“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 that had seemed out of reach affordable.
The 2022 federal budget highlights their success. Ottawa’s last pre-COVID projections, in its 2019 fall update, showed federal spending at $421 billion in fiscal year 2024-25. The 2022 budget’s projections have it at $479 billion a year (adding back $2 billion in pension obligations the government stopped including meanwhile). That’s $58 billion more, long after COVID-related measures are gone. The slogan we should have been hearing is “Build back bigger!”
In 2019, a…
Put to the Test: Ranking Canada’s Universities on Their Climate Change and Endowment Activities
Canadian universities are world renowned for their leadership in research and education. Many Canadian universities undertake research efforts and teach students about the risks and opportunities associated with climate change. Most have also embraced a transition to lower the carbon footprint across their operations. However, universities could do more to align their investment philosophies with […] Reach For The Stars: How Universities Rank On Their Endowments’ Climate Change Commitments
In 2020, 16 major Canadian universities signed the “Climate Charter for Canadian Universities,” a commitment to manage their assets while considering climate change. However, despite this pledge, a concerted effort to understand how Canadian university…John Lester – Who Will Pay for the Pandemic-Induced Debt?
From: John Lester To: Canadians Hoping for a Fiscally Responsible Federal Government Date: April 21, 2022 Re: Who Will Pay for the Pandemic-Induced Debt? “We are absolutely determined that our debt-to-GDP ratio must continue to decline,” said Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland in her budget speech this month. “Our deficits must continue to be reduced. The […]