Over at the Behind the Numbers web site, Allan Moscovitch, David Macdonald and I have a blog post titled “Ten Things to Know About Federal Income Support for Low-Income Seniors in Canada.” The blog post argues—among other things—that if the age of eligibility for Old Age Security were to move from 65 to 67, the […]
Continue readingTag: Federal elections 2015
LeDaro: LeDaro 2015-10-20 11:45:00
Finally, Stephen Harper is gone – an end to a decade-long nightmare for our country. His politics of control, fear, and division finally caught up to him. We got our country back, an end to scapegoating religious minorities, an end to the war on science, and hopefully the return to
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Election 2015: Trudeau’s Court of Economic Advisors
“I don’t read newspapers, I don’t watch the news. I figure, if something important happens, someone will tell me.” Justin Trudeau’s surprising confession in a 2001 Globe and Mail essay (“Something I’m Passionate About”, Feb.3) raises three questions: 1) does he read newspapers and watch the news now?; 2) if
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: First Nations Education is critical social infrastructure
Many Canadians know that the federal government is responsible for funding social services, health care, education and income supports on First Nations reserves. Few people realize that the escalator for these transfer payments has been frozen at 2% per year since 1996, without consideration for population growth or need. According to the
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Too Early to Call Recession Over
Statistics Canada is reporting a 0.3% increase in monthly GDP for July, on top of a (downward revised) 0.4% increase in June. This will no doubt spark Conservative politicians, and many economists, to declare that the shallow recession which Canada experienced in the first half of 2015 is already over.
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Federal Surplus: Digging Deeper
This week Stephen Harper’s Conservatives are trumpeting the announcement of a small surplus ($1.9 billion) for fiscal 2014-15. The political symbolism of this “good news” is a welcome change for them from a string of negative economic reports (most importantly, news that Canada slipped into recession in the first half
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Small Business Taxes, Big Loopholes
by: Kaylie Tiessen & David Macdonald Small business taxes made the news last week when, during a CBC interview, federal Liberal leader Justin Trudeau suggested many business owners are using the small business tax rate as a de facto in-country tax shelter. Responding to the interview, Conservative leader Stephen Harper
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: GDP Recession a Symptom of Deeper Failures
There were surely more people (myself included) watching Statistics Canada’s GDP release at 8:30 am Tuesday, than any other release in recent history! This reflected the political significance of the possibility that an official recession would be confirmed by the numbers, right smack in the middle of an election campaign
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Balanced Budget Myopia Breaks Both Ways
Opinions on deficit budgeting have become a short-hand litmus test in Canadian politics. Deficits are left-wing and balanced budgets are right-wing austerity. Economists know that there is virtually no difference between a small surplus and a small deficit, but politicians and voters are a different story. I have spent the past
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: “Taking Care of Business,” by Stephen Harper and the Senators!
At the big Unifor Canadian Council meeting in Montreal last weekend there was a surprise appearance by a new musical group, called “Stephen Harper and the Senators”, featuring Stephen Harper on guitar and vocals, Patrick Brazeau on drums, Pamela Wallin on bass, and Mike Duffy on lead guitar and general
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: When Bad News is Good News: Harper’s Call to Poloz
Was there any concrete economic reason for Stephen Harper to call Stephen Poloz yesterday, as global stock markets continued their gyrations? And then to have his office subsequently issue a cryptic and rather foreboding statement about the conversation? Of course, Prime Ministers and central bank governors talk to each other every
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Harper’s housing promises and the crisis of affordability
Over the past two weeks, Stephen Harper has made three new housing-related promises on the campaign trail. However, they won’t help the crisis of affordability. The pattern is familiar: make things worse and prepare to blame others. First, there’s the promise to allow first-time home buyers with RRSPs to take an
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Quality Public Child Care: An Economic No-Brainer
Child care will be a major issue in this federal election campaign. The NDP has pledged to create 370,000 new $15-per-day spaces through joint federal-provincial initiatives by 2017-18, at an estimated cost of around $2 billion per year (growing that to 1 million spaces by 2023). The Liberals have not
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Bribing people with their own money: the home reno tax credit
The first major election promise from the federal Conservatives: a permanent home renovation tax credit. On the surface this looks like an astute manoeuvre, given that home renovation has been booming in recent years. Canadian Press called the proposed credit a “big budget campaign promise,” but on closer inspection it is pretty
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Rhetoric vs Reality: The Harper Govt Economic Record
Speculation is intense that the unofficial election campaign we have already been experiencing for several months, is about to become official: Ottawa is awash in rumours the writ may be dropped as early as this weekend, setting the stage for months of promises, accusations, and photo-ops. As always the economy
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: My “Top Five” Most Outrageous Things About This Budget
With a document whose very timing, let alone content, was so transparently politicized and manipulative, it’s hard to even know where to start. Among the many galling, short-sighted, and ultimately destructive components of this federal budget, here are 5 that stand out in my view: 1. Timing. At a time
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: G20 meeting of world finance ministers too little too late
Posted earlier as an opinion piece for CBC. See original post here (this post slightly modified from original) By Louis-Philippe Rochon Follow him on Twitter @Lprochon Much was at stake earlier this week when finance ministers from G20 countries met in Istanbul to discuss Greece and the state of the world
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