PEF home page and weblog
Over at the Behind The Numbers website, I’ve written a blog post titled “Ten considerations for the next Alberta budget.” The blog post is a summary of a recent workshop organized by the Alberta Alternative Budget Working Group. The link to the blog post is here. Enjoy and share:
Posted by Nick Falvo under aboriginal peoples, Alberta, Balanced budgets, budgets, deficits, demographics, economic crisis, economic literacy, education, fiscal policy, gender critique, health care, homeless, housing, Indigenous people, inequality, NDP, population aging, poverty, prices, progressive economic strategies, public services, Role of government, seniors, social policy, taxation, women.
December 8th, 2018
Comments: none
Yesterday I spoke on a panel discussion on economic inequality, along with Andrew Jackson and Armine Yalnizyan. We were guests at the federal NDP’s policy convention in Ottawa. The panel was moderated by Guy Caron. Topics covered included the minimum wage, basic income, affordable housing, the future of jobs, gender budgeting, poverty among seniors, Canadian […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under aboriginal peoples, budgets, Canada, Child Care, debt, deficits, demographics, economic thought, education, federal budget, feminist economics, fiscal policy, free markets, gender critique, guaranteed annual income, health care, homeless, housing, income, income distribution, income support, income tax, Indigenous people, inequality, labour market, minimum wage, NDP, NEO-LIBERAL POLICIES, Nordics, OECD, part time work, political economic thought, population aging, poverty, privatization, progressive economic strategies, public infrastructure, public services, Role of government, seniors, social policy, taxation, unemployment, unions, women, working time.
February 18th, 2018
Comments: none
Oxford University Press has recently released the second edition of Social Policy in Canada, co-authored by the father-daughter duo of Ernie Lightman and Naomi Lightman. I recommend this book as an excellent resource for students of social policy. It will be useful for classroom instruction, while also being a handy reference for researchers, persons who […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under Alberta, BC, budgets, Canada, child benefits, Child Care, Conservative government, demographics, education, election 2015, employment, Harper, housing, income, income distribution, income support, income tax, inequality, PEF, population aging, post-secondary education, poverty, privatization, progressive economic strategies, public services, Role of government, Saskatchewan, seniors, social policy, taxation, unemployment, user fees, workplace benefits.
September 11th, 2017
Comments: none
I’ve just blogged about the Second Annual Canadian Homelessness Data Sharing Initiative. This is now an annual event that takes place in Calgary. It’s co-sponsored by the Calgary Homeless Foundation and the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy. A summary of the inaugural event (which took place in May 2016) can be found here, […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under aboriginal peoples, Alberta, cities, demographics, homeless, housing, Indigenous people, inequality, municipalities, population aging, poverty, public services, Role of government, seniors, social indicators, social policy.
July 5th, 2017
Comments: none
I have an opinion piece on Saskatchewan’s recent budget in the Regina Leader-Post. Points raised in the opinion piece include the following: -Reductions in personal and corporate income taxes help the rich more than the poor (and this budget cut both personal and corporate income taxes). -Increases in sales tax hurt the poor more than […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under aboriginal peoples, Austerity, budgets, Child Care, corporate income tax, debt, deficits, economic growth, economic models, economic thought, employment, fiscal policy, health care, income, income distribution, income support, income tax, Indigenous people, inequality, NEO-LIBERAL POLICIES, population aging, post-secondary education, poverty, public infrastructure, public services, Saskatchewan, social policy, taxation, unemployment.
April 23rd, 2017
Comments: none
Over at the web site of the Calgary Homeless Foundation, I’ve written a blog post titled “Five emerging trends in affordable housing and homelessness.” Points raised in the blog post include the following: -The Trudeau government has spent impressive amounts of money on affordable housing and homelessness. This is time-limited money though. -There is currently […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under cities, demographics, fiscal federalism, homeless, housing, municipalities, population aging, poverty, public infrastructure, public services, seniors, social policy.
March 10th, 2017
Comments: none
This fall, Canada’s Parliament will debate a proposal to expand the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). And over at the Behind the Numbers web site, I’m co-author of a blog post titled “Ten things to know about the CPP debate.” The blog post’s other co-authors are Allan Moscovitch and Richard Lochead. Points raised in the blog […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under Austerity, CPP, demographics, employment, income, income support, inequality, labour market, media, OECD, Old Age Security, older workers, part time work, pensions, population aging, poverty, privatization, progressive economic strategies, retirement, Role of government, self-employed, seniors, small business, social policy, taxation, unions.
October 29th, 2016
Comments: 1
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 […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under aboriginal peoples, budgets, Canada, Conservative government, CPP, demographics, economic history, election 2015, federal budget, Federal elections 2015, fiscal federalism, Harper economics, income distribution, income support, Indigenous people, inequality, labour market, Old Age Security, older workers, pensions, population aging, poverty, retirement, Role of government, seniors, social policy.
August 29th, 2016
Comments: none
Over at the web site of the Calgary Homeless Foundation, I have a blog post titled: “Ten things to know about the 2016-17 Alberta budget.” The link to the post is here. Enjoy and share:
Posted by Nick Falvo under Alberta, budgets, carbon pricing, child benefits, climate change, corporate income tax, debt, demographics, energy, environment, federal budget, health care, homeless, housing, HST, income support, income tax, inflation, population aging, poverty, public services, seniors, social policy, taxation.
May 3rd, 2016
Comments: none
This afternoon I gave a presentation at Raising the Roof’s Child & Family Homelessness Stakeholder Summit in Toronto. My slide deck can be downloaded here. To accompany the presentation, I’ve prepared the following list of “Ten Things to Know About Homelessness in Canada.†1.Efforts to enumerate persons experiencing homeless have generally been spotty, but it […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under aboriginal peoples, Alberta, Canada, cities, demographics, employment, Employment Insurance, fiscal policy, homeless, housing, income, income support, Indigenous people, labour market, macroeconomics, municipalities, Nunavut, Ontario, population aging, poverty, seniors, social policy, taxation, Toronto, unemployment.
September 17th, 2015
Comments: 2
Cet après-midi, j’ai fait une présentation au Child & Family Homelessness Stakeholder Summit, organisé par Chez Toit, à Toronto. Ma presentation, illustrée de diapositives, peut être téléchargée ici. Pour accompagner la présentation, je vous ai préparé la liste suivante: « Dix choses à savoir sur l’itinérance au Canada. » 1. Les tentatives de dénombrer les […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under aboriginal peoples, Alberta, cities, demographics, Employment Insurance, fiscal policy, homeless, housing, income, income support, Indigenous people, labour market, macroeconomics, municipalities, Nunavut, population aging, poverty, seniors, social policy, taxation, Toronto, unemployment.
September 17th, 2015
Comments: 1
It’s only been a couple of weeks since Disney, that most iconic of American companies, moved to displace all its home grown techies with low-cost foreign temporary workers. But the company had to beat a hasty retreat in the face of an outpouring of criticism. Amid the deluge of commentary this story triggered about where […]
Posted by Armine Yalnizyan under Conservative government, demographics, economic growth, employment, globalization, immigration, labour adjustment, labour market, migrant workers, population aging, skill shortages.
July 7th, 2015
Comments: 1
The Harper government gives five reasons why Canadians ought to be happy with its proposal to double the maximum contribution to the Tax-Free Savings Account. Examine each of its points more closely, however, and it’s clear that the TFSA carries far higher risks than rewards for individual Canadians as well as for the economy as […]
Posted by Armine Yalnizyan under Conservative government, democracy, income distribution, inequality, population aging, Role of government, seniors, taxation, TFSA.
March 2nd, 2015
Comments: 2
This afternoon, I gave a presentation on public policy responding to homelessness in Canada, with a focus on the past decade. I gave the presentation at this year’s annual conference of the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association. Points I made in the presentation include the following: -Once inflation is accounted for, the current annual value of […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under cities, Conservative government, demographics, homeless, housing, municipalities, population aging, poverty, seniors, social policy, Toronto.
October 18th, 2013
Comments: 2
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
John Stapleton has an opinion piece out on Prime Minister Harper’s proposed changes to Old Age Security (OAS)Â and the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS). I find the following quote from Stapleton to be particularly troubling: By providing OAS and GIS at age 65, Canada has greatly reduced the incidence of poverty among seniors. By moving the […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under Conservative government, CPP, demographics, fiscal federalism, income support, Old Age Security, older workers, pensions, population aging, poverty, retirement, seniors, social policy.
February 19th, 2012
Comments: 1
Canadian Press have put out a story based on a research paper by Richard Shillington which was commissioned by HRSDC from Informetrica, and obtained by the CLC through an Access to Information request. Receiving OAS is required to makes seniors eligible for the GIS top up, which provides one in three seniors with a supplement […]
Posted by Andrew Jackson under Old Age Security, older workers, population aging, poverty.
February 2nd, 2012
Comments: 1
To reprise a now topical earlier blog, hiking the age of eligibility for OAS will have the biggest impact by far on future seniors who are in low income. Many if not most of this group are unable to work due to disability or ill health. If the age of eligibility for OAS and GIS […]
Posted by Andrew Jackson under Old Age Security, population aging, poverty.
January 30th, 2012
Comments: 2
Canada’s population, we are frequently told, is rapidly aging. The big baby boomer cohort is headed out of the workforce, meaning that we face a future of very slow labour force growth and even possible shortages of workers. CIBC Economics has just gone so far as to argue that the Bank of Canada can afford […]
Posted by Andrew Jackson under pensions, population aging, retirement, seniors.
January 10th, 2012
Comments: 1
Arun Dubois’ blog post yesterday on Modern Monetary Theory has prompted me to write my own take on the subject. For those interested, an interesting thumbnail sketch of MMT, essentially functional finance augmented by a full understanding of monetary operations, is explained here. While MMT deals with the details of monetary and fiscal matters, the […]
Posted by Keith Newman under debt, economic crisis, economic growth, employment, federal budget, financial crisis, fiscal policy, heterodox economics, monetary policy, population aging, unemployment.
August 12th, 2011
Comments: 15
Boomers are getting blamed for an awful lot of fiscal problems these days. But blaming an aging population for healthcare costs spiraling out of control is misplaced. Missing opportunities to manage and contain costs is the real culprit. Take, for example, our spending on prescription drugs. Costs in that part of the healthcare system have […]
Posted by Armine Yalnizyan under Conservative government, Europe, health care, intellectual property, international trade, population aging, Role of government.
February 27th, 2011
Comments: 20
This article first appeared in the Globe and Mail’s online feature Economy Lab on Friday. My thanks to all the commentators on this page for the great discussion of the topic. This week, the Minister of Immigration and Citizenship rightly noted that immigrants are Canada’s ticket to economic growth in the coming years. The untold […]
Posted by Armine Yalnizyan under Alberta, economic growth, immigration, labour market, migrant workers, population aging, Saskatchewan.
February 18th, 2011
Comments: 25
Jeffrey Simpson seems to favour the sensible option of CPP expansion, but also wants to raise the CPP retirement age. “Curiously, there seems to be an aversion among governments to easing future retirement costs by raising the age of retirement. Australia, France and the United States have already done so, lifting the age for future […]
Posted by Andrew Jackson under inequality, pensions, population aging.
December 22nd, 2010
Comments: 2
I was recently trolling through Statistics Canada (LICO – After Tax) data on CANSIM and discovered to my slight surprise that the incidence of poverty (or low income as StatsCan politely prefers to describe it) has fallen very significantly among the elderly (age 65 and over.) I knew the rate was relatively low and had […]
Posted by Andrew Jackson under pensions, population aging, poverty, seniors, Uncategorized.
August 7th, 2008
Comments: 6
Back in the 1960s and 1970s there was a big Canadian pensions debate, centred mainly on the issue of how to address the then pressing problem of poverty and income security in old age. It resulted in the launching of the contributory CPP/QPP and the improvement of the demogrant Old Age Security/ Guaranteed Income Supplement. […]
Posted by Andrew Jackson under C. D. Howe Institute, pensions, population aging.
July 3rd, 2008
Comments: 1
Today’s Ottawa Citizen has a good editorial on the existence of two publicly-funded school systems in several provinces. The original concept of one system for Protestants and another for Catholics has evolved into a “public”, secular system and a “separate” system that teaches some Roman Catholicism but is also attended by many non-Catholics. Many schools […]
Posted by Erin Weir under cities, demographics, education, population aging.
April 13th, 2007
Comments: 2
The expert panel on older workers appointed by the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development has released a short discussion paper. http://www.ow-ta-sec.org/en/consultation/discussion_paper.shtml The background to this panel (promised in the 2006 Budget) was a political push in 2005 for an income support program for displaced older workers – a particularly hot topic in Quebec […]
Posted by Andrew Jackson under labour market, population aging.
March 28th, 2007
Comments: 3
http://research.cibcwm.com/economic_public/download/srpt_rrsp_022007.pdf An interesting piece on retirement savings from CIBC. It highlights the huge increase in unused RRSP contribution room in recent years, and the widening contribution gap between higher and lower income Canadians. As of 2005, the median total asset value of RRSPs held by pre retirement persons aged 55-65 was just $60,000 – hardly […]
Posted by Andrew Jackson under income support, population aging.
February 26th, 2007
Comments: 1
Pierre Fortin, who I usually find to be an interesting economic commentator on public policy issues, makes the case for demographic apocolypse. i used to share that fear, but I’ve done some number crunching on this issue in the BC context (i.e. more seniors than the national average) and am not convinced that the problem […]
Posted by Marc Lee under CPP, demographics, federal budget, population aging, taxation.
July 17th, 2006
Comments: 2