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Austerity Can Make Debt Problems Worse
The health and economic side-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have caused major deficits, at both the federal and provincial levels of government. With vaccinations continuing and the economy rebounding, many commentators now argue for a quick retrenchment in government spending to reduce deficits and debt. Centre for Future Work Director Jim Stanford recently presented to the CARE Conference at Memorial University in St. John’s, Nfld., on the outlook for public finances after the pandemic. A commentary based on his presentation is published here, part of the Fair Reset blog series hosted by the Newfoundland & Labrador Federation of Labour. And a video recording of his presentation has also been posted…
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Cryptocurrencies: The Most Useless Speculative Bubble Ever
The financial pages of newspapers continue to be obsessed with the violent ups and downs of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. And Canadian financial regulators have recently started to crack down on some of that industry’s ‘Wild West’ marketing tactics. In this commentary, originally published in the Toronto Star, Centre for Future Work Director Jim Stanford questions whether these digital products have any useful value whatsoever – and urges policy-makers to actively discourage crypto-speculation in favour of policies promoting actual jobs and production. Good Riddance to the Cryptotraders by Jim Stanford Binance runs one of the largest cryptocurrency trading operations in the world – helping customers speculate on the wild price…
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Best Way to Protect the Economy is to Protect Human Health
Canada’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be hampered by the false belief among some government leaders that restricting activity and movement will “damage” the economy. In fact, growing international evidence confirms that there is no “trade-off” between protecting health and protecting the economy: in fact, they go together. In this column originally published in the Toronto Star, Jim Stanford explains: Health and the Economy Go Hand in Hand By Jim Stanford With new stay-at-home orders covering many parts of the country, Canadians are settling in for several more weeks (at least) of daunting isolation. Restrictions are being tightened to slow the spread of COVID, until vaccines can turn…
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The Economy After COVID: What Comes Next?
Some day the COVID-19 pandemic will end – hopefully soon! But we will then be left with an enormous economic challenge: building back jobs and incomes after the worst economic downturn since the 1930s. How can we do that? TVO’s flagship program The Agenda, hosted by Steve Paiken, recently convened a panel of economic experts to consider that question – including Jim Stanford, Director of the Centre for Future Work. Stanford emphasized the need for sustained attention to job-creation, warning it would take years to regain normal employment levels. He also highlighted that any premature focus on reducing deficits and cutting back government spending would prolong the recession, and only…
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The Broken Promises of Corporate Tax Cuts
The pace of business capital spending in Canada has been weak in recent years, for several reasons – including the slowdown in the petroleum industry, the erosion of Canadian manufacturing, and now the impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic and recession. This has spurred a resurgence of demands from the business community for lower company tax rates, which advocates claim will accelerate business capital spending. In this analysis, published originally by the Canadian Tax Foundation, Centre for Future Work Director Jim Stanford agrees that stimulating more capital investment (both private and public) is a vital goal. But there is no evidence from either recent Canadian history or international comparisons that…
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The Gap between Stock Markets and Society has Never Been Greater
It seems counter-intuitive that North American financial markets have been on a tear for several months, in some cases setting all-time record highs – even as the COVID pandemic proves deadlier and longer-lasting than we all hoped for. In this commentary, originally published in the Toronto Star, Jim Stanford considers this “cognitive dissonance” between the exuberance of stock markets and the hardship of the real world. Booming Financial Markets Belie Social Hardship Canadians have confronted an avalanche of depressing news about the COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying recession: infections, deaths, job losses, bankruptcies. Amidst the doom and gloom, however, one light shines brightly. Even as fears of a second wave intensify,…
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Podcast on the Economics of Capitalism in a Crisis
Rational RationalReminder is a fascinating podcast series hosted by Benjamin Felix and Cameron Passmore. They work in the financial services sector (in Ottawa), but their series ranges very widely into broader economic, financial, and social issues. Episode #106 features a full hour interview with Centre for Future Work Director Jim Stanford. The conversation covered many aspects of the COVID-19 economic crisis and how government must respond – including debunking knee-jerk fears about government debt, and rejecting demands for fiscal austerity. It also delved into the nature of economics and how it could become a more realistic and socially embedded discipline. See video of the full conversation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=G1kKktotDGM
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Interview with Evan Solomon about Fiscal Policy, Income Supports, and Other Responses to the Pandemic
Centre for Future Work Director Jim Stanford recently appeared on Evan Solomon’s national radio program, Overview, to discuss the continuing evolution of the COVID-19 recession, and its implications for all areas of government policy. Evan and Jim discussed Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s fiscal ‘snapshot,’ the significance (or not) of the federal government’s large deficit, and the feasibility of various proposals for a basic income to help Canadians through the crisis (and to deal with the economic insecurity they already faced, even before the pandemic). Jim proposed far-reaching reforms to Canada’s deeply flawed Employment Insurance system, including a ‘hybrid’ approach that would combine improved access, a basic income threshold (similar to…
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Pearson Centre Webinar on Economics After COVID, Featuring Director Jim Stanford
Canada’s macroeconomy continues to grapple with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting restrictions on normal work and economic activity. Data confirm we are well into the worst downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s, and the impacts on a wide range of indicators (including employment, incomes, consumer confidence, business investment, and government revenues) have yet to be fully felt. To discuss the economic outlook, and the government policies that will be required to respond to it, Centre for Future Work Director Jim Stanford recently joined a webinar hosted by the Pearson Centre, a progressive think tank based in Ottawa. He advanced a range of far-reaching measures, including:…
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Reconstruction After COVID-19 Will Require Sustained Government Leadership
The Centre’s Director Jim Stanford had a feature interview yesterday with Michael Enright on CBC Radio’s public affairs show, Sunday Edition, on how Canada’s economy will rebuild after the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns. A full recording and an abridged transcript is available on the CBC site here. Stanford argued that government investment, income security payments, expanded public services, and direct public sector employment will all be crucial to lift Canada’s economic activity back to its potential, once it is safe to go back to work. “This has actually been a real-time experiment that a national government — particularly one that has its own currency, as we do in Canada — has…