Interrogating the ‘Vibecession’
There are encouraging signs that Canada’s economy and labour market are improving after a period of stagnation brought about by the Bank of Canada’s aggressive interest rate hikes in 2022…
Jim Stanford
New U.K. Government Signals Ambition on Labour Reforms
The new UK government is signaling some reasonably ambitious reforms on the labour policy front (certainly more ambitious than most were expecting, given the Labour Party’s austere pre-election rhetoric and…
Banning Replacement Workers
After decades of lobbying and advocacy by Canadian trade unions, the federal Parliament unanimously passed legislation to ban the use of replacement workers (or ‘scabs’) during strikes and lockouts in…
Ten reasons we can’t blame the carbon tax for inflation
From the onset of the post-COVID surge in inflation, Canada’s new breed of right-wing populists has worked hard to pin the blame for higher prices on the federal government. They…
Getting ready for the global financial crisis 2.0
Last week, $1.4 trillion in assets of Credit Suisse were transferred to another huge Swiss bank, UBS, in a fire sale orchestrated by the Swiss government and central bank. Photo…
Deconstructing Loblaw’s inept self-justification
Loblaw’s inept efforts on social media to justify its super-sized inflation-fueling profits provide an opportune moment to remind shoppers of the crucial economic facts regarding supermarket profitability. Photo from Flickr.…
Is the Economy “Running Hot”? Or Cold, and Getting Colder?
The Bank of Canada is widely expected to increase its policy interest rate again this week, for the eighth time in the last 10 months. Media and financial market commentary…
Yes, Virginia, Supermarket Profits HAVE Expanded
Supermarket executives were up on Parliament Hill this week, appearing before the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food’s inquiry into food inflation grocery chain profits. They repeated the now-familiar argument…
Direction of post-COVID reconstruction at stake in federal election
A street mural dedicated to frontline workers in Toronto by artist Gosia Komorski. Photo by Francesco Mariani/Flickr. Canada’s economy experienced a tectonic shock during the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting recession.…
Canada’s Secret Weapon in Fighting Climate Change: Great Trade Unions
U.S. President Joe Biden has been pushing the envelope in bringing America back into the Paris Accord process, setting more ambitious targets for reducing U.S. emissions, and committing to very…
Cutting Taxes in a Depression is Like Pushing on a String
BC Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson today announced a plan to completely eliminate the provincial sales tax (currently 7%) for 1 year, and then cut it by 4 points (or 57%)…
Remembering John Loxley
The progressive economics community, in Canada and around the world, lost a wonderful colleague, comrade and friend with the passing of John Loxley on July 28, 2020. Here I would…
StatCan says 13% of Canadians aren’t working—but the true number is more like 30%
A construction worker on site in Toronto. Photo by Jeanne Menjoulet/Flickr. Statistics Canada has just released its monthly labour force report for April. It’s the first monthly release that captures…
Guest Blog: Prof. Harry Glasbeek on Coronavirus and capitalism
The legendary Prof. Harry Glasbeek of Osgoode Hall Law School at York University has penned the following commentary on how the COVID-19 pandemic is revealing and reinforcing the deep flaws…
Federal Support Package: The Pros, the Cons, and the Next Shoe to Drop
Here are some quick thoughts on the extensive package of emergency measures announced today by Prime Minister Trudeau, Finance Minister Morneau, and Bank of Canada Governor Poloz: The Pros: The…
Economic Respone to Pandemic: Go Big, Go Fast
The health emergency created by the COVID-19 pandemic is of course the primary concern of Canadians, and the first priority for government to address. But it is increasingly clear that…
Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss
Canadian Dimension always strives to expose the underlying realities and power structures of society: digging beneath superficial appearances and passing fads, to highlight the lasting, exploitative relationships and practices that…
A Warning from Australia on Scheer’s Climate Non-Plan
Andrew Scheer argues carbon pricing is the wrong way to limit GHG emissions. He has pledged to eliminate the federal carbon pricing system, promising that scrapping it will bring down…
The Economic Pay-Off from Public Education
On a trip back to Toronto this week I attended the launch of a new report commissioned by the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, and written by Aimee McArthur-Gupta from…
NDP Math Error will Help the Party, Not Hurt It
The number-cruncher in me cringed in sympathy for the anonymous research nerds who made the now-famous math error in the Ontario NDP’s fiscal platform. They wrongly added a $700 million…