PEF home page and weblog
Review of Worst-Case Economics: Extreme Events in Climate and Finance by Frank Ackerman *** Long ago economics was termed “the dismal science,” but in recent years that title has arguably been passed on to climate science, with its regular and dire warnings that humanity needs to rapidly transition off of its use of fossil fuels […]
Posted by Marc Lee under carbon pricing, climate change, economic history, economic models, economic risk, financial crisis, financial markets, heterodox economics.
May 15th, 2018
Comments: none
My first, second and third posts on the Ontario electricity sector described how policy and administrative decisions by different Liberal Governments gave rise to excess electricity generation with an inflated cost structure, leading to higher electricity prices. In anticipation of June 2018 elections, the Liberal Government recently implemented a costly and first-in-Canada financial scheme to […]
Posted by Edgardo Sepulveda under deregulations, economic risk, electricity, energy, Ontario, P3s, public services, regulation, Uncategorized.
November 19th, 2017
Comments: none
Do you ever lie awake wondering what it is that Finance Canada, the Privy Council Office and Treasury Board Secretariat actually do? Well, wonder no more my friends! Over at the web site of the Calgary Homeless Foundation, I’ve written a blog post titled “Ten things to know about central agencies in Canada.” Here’s the […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under budgets, Canada, democracy, economic literacy, economic risk, federal budget, fiscal policy, progressive economic strategies, public services, regulation, Regulations, Role of government, social policy.
August 8th, 2016
Comments: none
This afternoon I gave a presentation to Professor Ted Jackson’s graduate seminar course on higher education, taught in Carleton University’s School of Public Policy and Administration. Â The link to my slide deck, titled “The Political Economy of Post-Secondary Education in Canada,” can be found here. Points I raised in the presentation include the following: -Tuition […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under debt, demographics, economic risk, education, employment, household debt, Indigenous people, inequality, post-secondary education, social policy, student debt, student movement, taxation, unemployment, user fees, young workers.
February 6th, 2014
Comments: 4
Under the headline “Canada Isn’t Rotten to the Coreâ€, the new editor of the Ivey Business Journal, Thomas Watson, attacked my book “Thieves of Bay Street†in his inaugural editorial. Although the book hit bookstores almost two years ago, and has faded from view, I found this assault so distorted to what “Thieves†explores I […]
Posted by Bruce Livesey under asset backed commercial paper, economic crisis, economic risk, financial markets, financial regulation.
January 3rd, 2014
Comments: 10
Canadians are now more indebted than either Americans or the Brits at the peak of their housing bubble. Statistics Canada today revised the national accounts. The result on the household debt front was that instead of Canadian households having a debt to disposable income ratio of 154, it has now been revised upwards to 166. […]
Posted by David Macdonald under debt, economic risk, financial markets, financial regulation, household debt, housing, interest rates.
October 15th, 2012
Comments: 9
The CCPA today released my report: “The Big Banks Big Secret†which provides the first public estimates of the emergency funds taken by Canadian banks. The report bases its estimates on publicly available data from CMHC, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, US Federal Reserve, the Bank of Canada, as well as quarterly […]
Posted by David Macdonald under asset backed commercial paper, auto industry, Bank of Canada, banks, capitalism, corporate profits, economic crisis, economic risk, financial crisis, financial markets, financial regulation, free markets, global crisis, income distribution, inequality, recession, Role of government, Uncategorized.
April 30th, 2012
Comments: 36
This is my latest column for Canadian Business magazine. Giorgio, a hard-working, smart-as-a-whip University of Toronto student, asked me a great question after a recent guest lecture: What if the biggest challenge facing Canadian businesses and governments in the coming years isn’t an aging society but the economic and fiscal drag of hundreds of thousands […]
Posted by Armine Yalnizyan under economic growth, economic risk, employment, labour adjustment, population aging, skill shortages, temporary workers, Uncategorized, unemployment, young workers.
April 11th, 2012
Comments: 4
The “science†of economics has for most of its history relied on theory more than experimentation, which is quite literally the testing grounds of all “real†science. The birth of behavioural economics in the 1970s permitted economists to start testing theory rigorously, by borrowing empirical methods from psychology and other social sciences to lift the […]
Posted by Armine Yalnizyan under economic risk, economic thought.
March 2nd, 2011
Comments: 4
Here is the trade union statement to the World Economic Forum, which begins today: A New Reality for Workers? Statement of Labour Leaders to the World Economic Forum Davos, Switzerland, 26 – 30 January 2011 Enjoy and share:
Posted by Erin Weir under climate change, economic risk, financial transactions tax, G-20, labour market, stimulus, unions.
January 26th, 2011
Comments: 12
At long last, the federal government has decided to seriously address the housing price bubble that has increasingly concerned Canadians. On the heels of multiple warnings from the Bank of Canada that Canadians have taken on too much household debt for comfort (we hold the dubious distinction of having the worst consumer debt to financial […]
Posted by David Macdonald under bubble, cities, economic risk, household debt, housing, interest rates.
January 18th, 2011
Comments: 2
What are banks for? Typically, banks are described as intermediaries that take deposits and lend them out, earning what is called net interest margin on the gap between what is paid on the savings and what is earned on loans. From where I stand, this description is wrong on three counts. First, it suggests that […]
Posted by Arun DuBois under banks, debt, economic risk, financial markets, financial regulation, household debt, housing, interest rates.
November 25th, 2010
Comments: 6
Here’s my take on Canada’s jobs recovery, written for the Economy Lab. The Economy Lab is a new on-line feature of the on-line business section of the Globe and Mail, part the newspaper’s extensive print and electronic make-over launched on October 1. Editor Rob Gilroy has made it a lively spot. The Daily Mix is […]
Posted by Armine Yalnizyan under deficits, economic risk, Employment Insurance, household debt, labour market, recession, Role of government, unemployment.
October 16th, 2010
Comments: 2
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Posted by Armine Yalnizyan under economic risk, labour market, macroeconomics, recession, self-employed, temporary workers.
April 11th, 2010
Comments: 4
PEF people are not the only ones who correctly anticipated some of our recent economic and fiscal events. Jamie Galbraith also saw a lot of this coming in his book The Predator State. With no further ado, I’m posting an enthusiastic review of the book by fellow traveler and Sorbonne PhD economics graduate Henry Sader: […]
Posted by Arun DuBois under capitalism, economic crisis, economic growth, economic risk, free markets, GDP, global crisis, global imbalances, globalization.
January 29th, 2009
Comments: 8
Further to Toby’s excellent post on Iceland. Here are some extracts from OECD Country Reviews – courtesy of Roland Schneider of TUAC – which show gross disregard for the risks as they were building. Economic Survey of Iceland 2006 Published on 9 August 2006 Chapter 1: Policy challenges in sustaining improved economic performance Iceland’s growth […]
Posted by Andrew Jackson under economic risk, financial markets, Fraser Institute, Nordics.
October 17th, 2008
Comments: 2
Al Gore has famously and correctly characterized the scientific consensus about global warming as “An Inconvenient Truth”. In today’s Financial Post, Buzz Hargrove identifies another “inconvenient truth” for Canadian progressives: “it is impossible to achieve Kyoto targets in the time frames spelled out in Kyoto.” Canada’s Kyoto commitment was relatively modest and achievable. However, after […]
Posted by Erin Weir under climate change, economic risk, environment, taxation.
April 20th, 2007
Comments: 10
Yesterday, the Conservatives announced three ballot options for an upcoming mail-in vote on the Canadian Wheat Board’s marketing of barley: (1) maintain single-desk marketing, (2) end the Board’s marketing of barley, or (3) have the Board market barley without its monopoly. In effect, Board elections have always been plebiscites on the organization’s role and supporters of […]
Posted by Erin Weir under economic risk, farming, free trade, Role of government, Saskatchewan.
January 23rd, 2007
Comments: 1
http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/070116/d070116a.htm One thing we don’t know about the current round of manufacturing job losses is what is happening to laid-off workers – though employment rates are slipping for older male workers in Ontario and Quebec, and even a supposedly “tight” job market is generating little if any real wage growth for most workers. This suggests […]
Posted by Andrew Jackson under economic risk, industrial policy, labour market, unemployment.
January 16th, 2007
Comments: 1
http://www.socialreport.msd.govt.nz/ This is worth a look as a serious attempt at an “official” social audit. A good selection of economic and social indicators, and what is interesting is that the report highlights some progessive benchmarks and targets, and some not terribly impressive performance. A brave government indeed, compared to our own. Enjoy and share:
Posted by Andrew Jackson under economic risk, inequality.
October 26th, 2006
Comments: none
An interesting discussion is happening over at The American Prospect. Called Debating the Middle it asks “Just how is the middle class faring in the modern American economy, and how should progressives tailor their message and program accordingly?” As in other posts on the US inequality debate, there are some insights and implications to be […]
Posted by Marc Lee under economic risk, inequality.
September 12th, 2006
Comments: none