Op-Eds
Business investment in Canada is weak. The 2017 federal budget highlighted how it is lagging the rest of the economy. Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz and his colleagues have expressed concerns. A few weeks ago, Deputy Governor Larry Schembri emphasized the importance of business spending on new plant, equipment and intellectual property for growth in the short run, and for the capital stock that raises living standards over time. Weak investment is a problem now and for the future.
We estimate that Canadian businesses will spend about $11,700 per worker on new, non-residential capital this year, far below a peak of $15,100 in 2014. The fall-off means the average Canadian worker will have less infrastructure,…
The robots are coming! No job is safe! We’ve been hearing this refrain for a while now, describing the latest wave of the technological revolution that has transformed economies everywhere. But is there truly nothing a machine can’t do better than a person?
With all that current technology can accomplish, it’s easy for people to assume that robots will be replacing humans in all corners of the workplace. Our latest research for the C.D. Howe Institute — ‘Future Shock? The Impact of Automation on Canada’s Labour Market’ — carefully assesses the evidence.
Our main conclusion: There’s no need to reach for the panic button just yet.
It seems like the federal government agrees with us, as the recent budget…
No one likes the word deficit. In government finance it means you spend more than what you raise in revenue. And in trade it means you import more than you export. U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly pointed to widening trade deficits with countries such as China and Mexico as proof positive that his predecessors have made bad trade deals.
But it is misleading to think of trade deficits in that way. At the very least, the reality is far more nuanced.
First, imports have a beneficial impact. More countries selling to the U.S., or Canada, means more affordable goods for consumers, which has helped boost what’s called the “C” variable — consumer spending. In the U.S., in fact, if we remove food and energy from the…
Property owners in the Winnipeg School Division are being asked if they are willing to pay more taxes to save school programs. We have been told the nursery program may be on the chopping block if taxes are not increased. Trustees are encouraging parents and ratepayers to attend consultation meetings and provide feedback.
The former NDP government provided consistent funding increases to education over a multi-year period. The current Tory government, faced with a large deficit, wants to reduce spending, so school divisions will not receive as much provincial funding as they would like. The board of trustees warns the shortfall may need to be recovered by increasing property taxes.
During the decade in…
The accumulation of past failures in fighting poverty has breathed new life into proposals to introduce a basic income, also known as a Guaranteed Annual Income. Ontario, for example, has a pilot project underway championed by former senator Hugh Segal. But, is the basic income approach, where governments provide direct financial support to low-income people, the best approach?
Basic income programs are examples of the top-down, one-size-fits-all siloed programs that were developed in the pre-computer age and that are part of the problem of an unresponsive, fragmented social security system. Such programming does not take into account the diversity of circumstances and needs that exist among people with low incomes.
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