Canadian household debt hits record high Okay, so Stats Can tells us today that Canadian household debt has reached a record high 152.98%, a level relative to income that surpasses that of the U.S. and Britain, but President Harper and his bulldog Flaherty continue to spin the “but we’re better off” sop.
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Politics and Entertainment: A Simple Solution for the Deficit that Might Please Both Progressives and Neo-classical Economists
Given the record profits of and incentives paid out in Cdn banks recently, there is no credible argument that says they can’t afford a financial service transaction tax, and, as we know, it is the financial sector that is largely responsible for the economic mess in which we find ourselves.
Continue readingPolitics and Entertainment: Jobs Waning, Debt Mounting, Wages Slipping: A Bleak Outlook
Here are some followup comments that supplement my last post. The emerging picture of the Canadian economy is bleak. Inscribed as every government in the Western world is in neoclassical economic policy that shapes the global economy, the blame can be easily spread around, but our own government could be
Continue readingPolitics and Entertainment: Combined with Harper Regime’s Austerity Program, Continuous Deleveraging of Household Debt Could be a Serious Issue
House prices have been speculatively bid up to 29% over real value with all the low interest, easy credit banks have been only too willing to give us. They’re just sooo good to us. But a little recent fear has begun a deleveraging of household debt in Canada – which
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: William Watson on PSE
On Wednesday, William Watson wrote a comment piece in the Financial Post in which he was critical of Armine Yalnizyan’s recent essay on inequality that appeared the National Post. In his piece, Mr. Watson alleges that Armine “is guilty of fantastical reminiscence,” particularly with respect to her take on post-secondary education (PSE). Among other things, Mr. Watson […]
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Ontario Student Debt
Last week, the CCPA released a paper by David Macdonald and Erika Shaker entitled Under Pressure: The Impact of Rising Tuition Fees on Ontario Families. The paper does a good job of explaining which households have been most impacted by rising tuition fees in Ontario. Points made in the paper include the following: -In light […]
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Is There a Student Debt Bubble?
A recent article in The Atlantic looks at student debt in the United States and suggests there may be a student debt bubble. Written by the authors of the recent book, Higher Education?, the article points out that “college loans are nearing the $1 trillion mark, more than what all households owe on their credit cards.” The article also […]
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Recession Ahead?
TD Economics yesterday released a rather gloomy report, putting the odds of a US recession at 40%, and arguing that that Canadian economy is more vulnerable to recession than it was in 2008. It highlights reduced capacity for governments to respond given that interest rates are already very low, and given that that household and […]
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Is Capitalism Terminally Ill?
Today (June 15th) the Toronto Star broke news that the NDP was planning to drop the term “socialism” from its party’s platform. This was a mere formality of what had been in existence for decades: the party hasn’t been “socialist” in any shape or form for a very long time. On the very same day, […]
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Reduce Student Debt to Reduce Household Debt
At this year’s Annual Conference of the Canadian Economics Association, Armine Yalnizyan gave a presentation entitled “Surviving the Recovery: The Distribution of Canadian Household Debt.” The panel was co-sponsored by the Canadian Association for Business Economics and the Progressive Economics Forum. As Armine made clear in her presentation, household debt in Canada has steadily risen over the […]
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