The C.D. Howe Institute released Recovery and Stability: A Shadow Federal Budget for 2021, in which authors Don Drummond, Alexandre Laurin, and William B.P. Robson present initiatives to support the recovery and longer-term growth, while ensuring the federal government’s capacity to deliver services in the future. “The 2020 Fall Economic Statement contained little to enhance Canada’s growth prospects … Read more
The C.D. Howe Institute published a new report, Help Wanted: How to Address Labour Shortages in Healthcare and Improve Patient Access, which shows that COVID-19 highlights an ongoing shortage of nurses and doctors in Canada. “To address a pandemic, preserving and maintaining the healthcare system’s capacity is critical,” said report author Rosalie Wyonch, whose report evaluates factors contributing to … Read more
The C.D. Howe Institute’s Monetary Policy Council recommends that the Bank of Canada keep its target for the overnight rate, its benchmark policy interest rate, at 0.25 percent at least until Jan. 2022. A majority of MPC members also recommends that the Bank of Canada maintain its current quantitative easing purchases of Government of Canada bonds. The full … Read more
The Bank of Canada built an impressive track record with its policy moves pre-COVID, then the pandemic knocked its plans off track, says the first annual review of the Bank’s monetary policy performance from the C.D. Howe Institute. In For the Record: Assessing the Monetary Policy Stance of the Bank of Canada, authors Steve Ambler and Jeremy M. Kronick … Read more
The C.D. Howe Institute published a report which says competition law enforcement should be the first defense for addressing anti-competitive behaviour in the digital marketplace. In the view of the institute’s Competition Policy Council, competition law should provide the framework for addressing concerns about the market conduct of digital platforms, and direct regulation should be the last … Read more
Despite economic recovery since April, it is too early to call the end of the recession, according to a new C.D. Howe Institute Business Cycle Council report, folloing a Dec. 7 meeting. In April the council declared a recession had been entered. At their December meeting, the Council noted that despite Canada experiencing broad economic growth since the … Read more
The C.D. Howe Institute published a new report, Student Performance in PISA 2018: Nettlesome Questions for Canada, in which author John Richards looks at data from OECD’s Program for International Student Assessment and finds declining scores in core subjects and wide gaps in achievement between advantaged and disadvantaged students. “The most troubling PISA trends are in Manitoba and … Read more
The C.D. Howe Institute’s Monetary Policy Council recommends that the Bank of Canada keep its target for its benchmark policy interest rate at 0.25 per cent until at least July 2021. The group noted a number of positives since the Bank of Canada’s last overnight rate announcement. Indicators of spending and output in many advanced economies, notably the United States, … Read more
Ottawa and the provinces need to recommit to fiscal and monetary anchors in light of the unprecedented stimulus response provided by all levels of government and the Bank of Canada throughout the COVID-19 crisis.The Monetary and Financial Measures Working Group further recommends the following: Governments should make clear to Canadians how they will re-calibrate and eventually … Read more
Policymakers should help ensure capital is flowing efficiently to businesses best placed to drive economic growth during the recovery, according to the C.D. Howe Institute’s Crisis Working Group on Monetary and Financial Measures, which issued recommendations for policymakers and regulators: Be transparent in communication with the public; Reduce regulatory impediments to capital flow, through, for example, … Read more
