For the Record: Assessing the Monetary Policy Stance of the Bank of Canada
Bank of Canada Built Solid Track Record Pre-COVID The Bank of Canada built an impressive track record with its policy moves pre-COVID, then the pandemic knocked its plans off track. In the Institute’s first annual review of the Bank’s monetary policy performance, authors Steve Ambler and Jeremy M. Kronick look at whether the stance of […] Bank Of Canada Built Solid Track Record Pre-covid
The Bank of Canada built an impressive track record with its policy moves pre-COVID, then the pandemic knocked its plans off track, says the first annual review of the Bank’s monetary policy performance from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “For the Record: Assessing the…Jon Johnson – Ustr Suspends Section 301 Tariffs Against French Goods
From: Jon Johnson To: Global Affairs Canada and the CRA Date: January 12, 2021 Re: USTR Suspends Section 301 Tariffs Against French Goods Further to my December 1 Memo, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has now suspended the Section 301 tariffs scheduled to be applied on January 6 to French goods as retaliation for […] La Numérisation Ou La Désuétude Pour Les Entreprises – La Presse Op-ed
ll est grand temps que nos entreprises accélèrent leur numérisation. Celles qui ne mordront pas la carotte des appuis offerts par les gouvernements et les institutions financières goûteront au bâton des concurrents qui redoublent d’ardeur.
La COVID-19 agit en accélérateur de changement, que l’on pense seulement au télétravail et aux achats en ligne qui ont grimpé en flèche. Or, ce ne sont que deux manifestations parmi plusieurs de la numérisation de l’économie, un concept large qui englobe aussi la bande passante à haut débit qui livre les séries de Netflix ou l’accès internet aux services bancaires, par fibre optique ou par les ondes de nos téléphones.
Dans les entreprises innovatrices, l’information numérisée lubrifie…
Fred Horne – Are We Serious About Senior Care In Canada?
From: Fred Horne To: Canadians Concerned about Long-Term Care Date: January 11, 2021 Re: Are We Serious about Senior Care in Canada? Long-term care accounts for four out of every five deaths from COVID-19 in Canada – more than 10,000 to date. Thanks to that tragic statistic, we can only hope that politicians, health system leaders and Canadians […] 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 […] Competition Law Has Teeth to Oversee Digital Marketplace: C.D. Howe Institute Competition Policy Council
January 7, 2021 – Competition law enforcement should be the first defense for addressing anti-competitive behaviour in the digital marketplace, according to a report from a C.D. Howe Institute council.
Canada’s statutory framework for competition law enforcement continues to provide a robust and flexible toolkit to address anti-competitive behaviour. As such, in response to a growing movement both internationally and domestically for the regulation of “big data,” competition law should provide the framework for addressing concerns about the market conduct of digital platforms, and direct regulation should be the last resort.
This is the majority view of the C.D. Howe Institute’s Competition Policy Council, which held its…
Marcel Boyer – The Pervasive Economic Error In Assessing The Cost Of Public Funds
From: Marcel Boyer To: Canada’s Debt Watchers Date: January 7, 2021 Re: The Pervasive Economic Error in Assessing the Cost of Public Funds In the assessment of the cost of public funds, a pervasive economic fallacy is dogma in both the private and public sectors as well as in academia: since the cost of borrowing is higher for a […] 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…
The Federal Climate Plan Provides The Clarity That Canada’s Economy Needs – Globe And Mail Op-ed
The horse is out of the stable. Earlier this month, the federal government announced its plan for meeting Canada’s targets for greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris Agreement, the centrepiece of which is a carbon price of $170 per tonne of greenhouse gas emissions in 2030. Ottawa also announced that it will explore using border carbon adjustments to address “carbon leakage,” and will forgo a Clean Fuel Standard for gaseous fuels.
To those who are suspicious of Ottawa, this plan may feel like a jab at Canada’s beleaguered petroleum industry. And to be sure, the painful adjustments involved should not be downplayed. Based on today’s engineering, a $170-per-tonne carbon price would mean much higher costs for oil sands…