The economy is so bad that Canada’s biggest companies are asking their employees to email politicians to improve investments. Except profits are at record highs. So maybe it’s not government?
If there is one sector not working for Canadians it's the major corporations and excess profits that have fueled the binge (Yahoo Finance term, not mine) in share buybacks which in 12 months from June 1, '22 was $170 billion.
It's ironic that the PM gets blamed for everything from street crime to a sign falling off a building in Vancouver.
Canada needs at minimum a guaranteed income scheme which not for the pandemic would be very close if not in by now.
Krugman posted a couple of nifty OECD-based graphs outlining the recent Canadian economic history - its sobering to realize the extent to which the Canadian experience has been a testbed of neoliberal economic tinkering that almost uniformly been a windfall for big business, but a disaster for normal Canadians. See https://substack.com/home/post/p-154418560?source=queue
The call from the BCC raises my gorge - and my socks are wet! It ain't raining in Edmonton this am for sure!
Krugman's piece is interesting. The reality (which everyone ignores) is that Canada's provinces have more responsibilities, capital and spending footprints, and they run highly regressive fiscal policies, and that includes the NDP.
However, I have to say that I get irked when he praises Mundell for winning a richly deserved Nobel, because the Nobel prize for economics is a fraud, and that, to me says more about economics than almost anything else.
In the 1960s, the Swedish Central Bank didn't like what Swedish Social Democrats were up to, so they started offering an Economics prize in honour of Nobel, against the family's wishes. They proceeded to hand out the prizes to elevate the discoveries of a bunch of right-wing propagandists whose views were unscientific, as if they were discoveries on a par with physics, chemistry and medicine.
If Krugman were actually interested in accuracy in economics, he'd point that out, except he's a recipient.
Yeah the Biz Council is really just campaigning for Pollievre here. Blame the Feds for everything feeds right into the Conservative messaging.
A New Deal is definitely required but I think I would push it into a bit different direction. We have to move away from GDP as an indicator of economic health/success AND we need to start treating the Climate Emergency seriously. We need to direct the economy actively towards “hardening” infrastructure against climate events and get off of fossil fuels as fast as possible. All of that would require a much bigger role for the Federal government and would be opposed by provinces and business lobby groups. It could be made popular with citizens though if it was accompanied by UBI. Just saying’.
You are absolutely correct that Canadian society is facing a really big problem. Removing financial sector from GDP will likely show that real economy is shrinking. Government expenses meanwhile are growing, and this combination will drive us to a crash. Alas, you are missing the fact that big corporations (Big Oil, and banks) do what they do by design. They comply with laws and their charters. And Yes, these 'evil' corporations will always try to maximize their profits. That's the reason people buy their stock. And guess who sets the rules and prints money? The government. If you really want to come up with some solution - shed you anti-big-business sentiment, and think like an economist. I understand you aren't one, therefore for starters, try naming a good economist with publications AND some fresh ideas. I don't know of any by the way.
If there is one sector not working for Canadians it's the major corporations and excess profits that have fueled the binge (Yahoo Finance term, not mine) in share buybacks which in 12 months from June 1, '22 was $170 billion.
It's ironic that the PM gets blamed for everything from street crime to a sign falling off a building in Vancouver.
Canada needs at minimum a guaranteed income scheme which not for the pandemic would be very close if not in by now.
Thanks for the extra info on buybacks.
Krugman posted a couple of nifty OECD-based graphs outlining the recent Canadian economic history - its sobering to realize the extent to which the Canadian experience has been a testbed of neoliberal economic tinkering that almost uniformly been a windfall for big business, but a disaster for normal Canadians. See https://substack.com/home/post/p-154418560?source=queue
The call from the BCC raises my gorge - and my socks are wet! It ain't raining in Edmonton this am for sure!
Krugman's piece is interesting. The reality (which everyone ignores) is that Canada's provinces have more responsibilities, capital and spending footprints, and they run highly regressive fiscal policies, and that includes the NDP.
However, I have to say that I get irked when he praises Mundell for winning a richly deserved Nobel, because the Nobel prize for economics is a fraud, and that, to me says more about economics than almost anything else.
In the 1960s, the Swedish Central Bank didn't like what Swedish Social Democrats were up to, so they started offering an Economics prize in honour of Nobel, against the family's wishes. They proceeded to hand out the prizes to elevate the discoveries of a bunch of right-wing propagandists whose views were unscientific, as if they were discoveries on a par with physics, chemistry and medicine.
If Krugman were actually interested in accuracy in economics, he'd point that out, except he's a recipient.
Yeah the Biz Council is really just campaigning for Pollievre here. Blame the Feds for everything feeds right into the Conservative messaging.
A New Deal is definitely required but I think I would push it into a bit different direction. We have to move away from GDP as an indicator of economic health/success AND we need to start treating the Climate Emergency seriously. We need to direct the economy actively towards “hardening” infrastructure against climate events and get off of fossil fuels as fast as possible. All of that would require a much bigger role for the Federal government and would be opposed by provinces and business lobby groups. It could be made popular with citizens though if it was accompanied by UBI. Just saying’.
You are absolutely correct that Canadian society is facing a really big problem. Removing financial sector from GDP will likely show that real economy is shrinking. Government expenses meanwhile are growing, and this combination will drive us to a crash. Alas, you are missing the fact that big corporations (Big Oil, and banks) do what they do by design. They comply with laws and their charters. And Yes, these 'evil' corporations will always try to maximize their profits. That's the reason people buy their stock. And guess who sets the rules and prints money? The government. If you really want to come up with some solution - shed you anti-big-business sentiment, and think like an economist. I understand you aren't one, therefore for starters, try naming a good economist with publications AND some fresh ideas. I don't know of any by the way.