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Second Wave of COVID Job Losses Just as Unfair as the First
Commentary on January 2021 employment data by Jim Stanford: With most of Canada fighting a bigger, deadlier second wave of COVID infection, labour markets in most provinces are suffering the consequences. Employment began to shrink in December. But jobs data for January released by Statistics Canada confirm that the economy is sliding into a second dip, to match the second wave of the pandemic. Both the scale of job loss, and their painfully unfair distribution, are heartbreaking. And the new numbers reinforce findings from our first PowerShare report: 10 Ways the COVID Pandemic Must Change Work for Good. The worst impacts are being felt by workers in lower wage, insecure…
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The Revolution Will Not be Led by Day Traders
Global financial markets have been roiled since the New Year by dramatic surges in shares of several companies – even more gut-wrenching than the usual twists and turns of the paper markets. The rise and quick fall of GameStop shares was the most stunning; some observers attributed its volatility to a “populist” attack (by small-scale retail traders) on the elite bastions of high finance. Jim Stanford begs to differ: in this commentary (originally published in the Toronto Star), he argues the growing popularity of day-trading is not challenging the dominance of financial elites… it is reinforcing it. GameStop Shenanigans Only Enriched the Wealthy By Jim Stanford For a few exhilarating…
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Video Presentation on Building Better Jobs After COVID
Centre for Future Work Director Jim Stanford recently participated in the Cannexus21 conference, hosted by CERIC (a non-profit organization that promotes career counselling and career development in Canada). His topic was how to create better jobs, and a stronger labour market, after the COVID pandemic and its catastrophic impacts on workers – especially workers in low-wage, insecure jobs. The presentation updates material from our earlier paper, 10 Ways the COVID Pandemic Must Change Work for Good, published through our PowerShare project. Here is a link to his 30-minute presentation, followed by a few questions from the audience. https://youtu.be/hb_Sa51OSic We are grateful to CEIC and Cannexus for the opportunity to participate…