Economy

If Our Forests Count Then It’s Time to Count

Apr 22, 2011
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Judging by the comments published in response to an opinion piece that Anthony Britneff and I co-wrote and that The Province newspaper published this week, there is growing concern within the ranks of the provincial Forest Service and in the professional forestry community over the current state of health of our publicly owned forests. Inventories… View Article

Can cooperatives humanize the economy?

Apr 13, 2011
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Book Review of Humanizing the Economy: Cooperatives in the Age of Capital, by John Restakis, New Society Publishers, 2010. The economy is about business, right? Sure, we have a dynamic mixed economy, and most people support decent social programs and government intervention to protect the environment or to improve living conditions for the poorest. In… View Article

A Call to Action on the Forest Front

Apr 8, 2011
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Does the provincial government have a coherent plan to address the exponentially deepening forest health crisis in our province? Evidently not, as outlined by two scientists in a sobering critique of provincial government forest policy (or the lack thereof) published in today’s Vancouver Sun. Penned by Suzanne Simard, a professor of forest science at the… View Article

Robin Hood Economics

Apr 5, 2011
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Canada’s economic context at the time of Election 2011 is one of “precarious recovery”, and overall demand conditions are weakened by a few major factors. Unemployment is still just under 8%, which is good compared to the double-digit unemployment of the early 1990s, but not great compared to the expansions of the late 1990s and… View Article

Corporate tax cuts haven’t delivered

Mar 23, 2011
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Yesterday I debated an economist from the Fraser Institute on CBC radio about the Federal Budget. One of the points of contention (and indeed, one of the core issues around which this budget will likely bring down the government) was the matter and merits of corporate tax cuts. My point: corporate tax cuts simply have… View Article

When everything you ask for isn’t enough – BC business calls for more cuts to labour standards

Feb 24, 2011
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Last November BC’s Labour Minister quietly announced his Ministry was conducting a review of employment standards and the minimum wage.  There has been virtually no news coverage on this.  That’s too bad because the results could be important for BC workers.  The recommendations could offer a blueprint for BC’s new Liberal Premier to be chosen… View Article

An Interesting Spin

Feb 23, 2011
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In its latest planning document, BC Hydro is forecasting a rate increase of 50% over the next five years. In fact, earlier BC Hydro submissions to the BC Utilities Commission revealed that rates are expected to increase at that pace for the next ten years, with rates forecast to more than double over that period. Not… View Article

Much ado about the provincial debt

Feb 16, 2011
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If you read Vaughn Palmer’s online budget analysis in the Vancouver Sun, you’d be forgiven thinking that deficit hysteria is making a comeback in BC. The title of his online piece, Debt Hits Historic High, disappoints with its blatant sensationalism. Yes, it is technically true that in straight up current dollars debt hit a historic… View Article