This morning on the Bill Good Show, where I was discussing the new CCPA budget brief, Bill asked me whether the recent activity in BC’s housing market is a sign of strong consumer confidence and a budding recovery. After all, real estate is still very expensive in our cities (even if less so than last [...]
Entries Tagged as 'recession'
Is the recent surge in housing sales good news or bad news?
August 27th, 2009 · Iglika Ivanova · Comments Off · Economy
Tags: bubble·household debt·recession
Still reckless and unnecessary
August 27th, 2009 · Shannon Daub · 5 Comments · Economy, Provincial budget & finance
Gary Mason offers this summary of the past eight years in yesterday’s Globe: When B.C. Liberal Premier Gordon Campbell came to office in 2001 he unleashed a top-to-bottom review of all government agencies in an effort to bring finances in order. The result wasn’t pretty. It led to protests of all kinds from any number [...]
Spending cuts will spell further job losses and a longer recession
August 27th, 2009 · Iglika Ivanova · 1 Comment · Economy, Employment & labour, Poverty, inequality & welfare, Provincial budget & finance
Want a recipe to harm the economy and increase hardship for British Columbians in the middle of a recession? It’s easy – all you have to do is cut government spending. Unfortunately, this is exactly where our government seems to be headed judging by their ominous throne speech. A new report by yours truly, released [...]
There is more to good economic policy than protecting the interests of employers
May 6th, 2009 · Iglika Ivanova · Comments Off · BC Election 2009, Economy, Employment & labour, Environment, resources & sustainability
Next week’s election will take place in the midst of an economic crisis which hit our province seemingly out of the blue last fall and hit us hard, causing 69,000 job losses between November and March (the April numbers will be released on Friday, May 8, and are expected to be just as grim as [...]
Tags: campaign·green infrastructure·inequality·Liberals·NDP·Obama·platform·recession·tax cuts·unemployment
BC’s economy and the Liberal platform
April 29th, 2009 · Marc Lee · 1 Comment · BC Election 2009, Economy, Energy, Provincial budget & finance
With my oped last week on the NDP platform making me less than popular over at NDP HQ, today the Sun published my take on the Liberals’ platform, thereby guaranteeing that the list of Christmas parties I get invited to dwindles to next to nothing. BC’s Economic Challenges and the Liberal Platform By Marc Lee [...]
Tags: carbon tax·deficit·green infrastructure·greenhouse gas·inequality·Liberals·oil and gas·platform·Port Mann·recession·transportation
BC's soaring EI claims
April 28th, 2009 · Marc Lee · Comments Off · BC Election 2009, Economy, Employment & labour
Today’s Statistics Canada release features the latest (February 2009) stats on Employment Insurance claims. From February 2008 to February 2009, the number of EI beneficiaries is up 69%. And the number is up 11.6% just between January and February. More evidence that the BC economy is in much worse shape than the major political parties [...]
Tags: EI·employment·recession·unemployment
Oh, about that recession …
April 27th, 2009 · Marc Lee · Comments Off · BC Election 2009, Economy
BC’s recession started in 2008. That is the upshot of today’s release of Statistics Canada’s Provincial Economic Accounts, which provides the first estimates of BC’s GDP for 2008. Unlike national data, which are provided quarterly and on a timely basis, we have to wait about four months to tally the various provincial beans. These numbers [...]
Tags: Agriculture·budget·campaign·construction·deficit·exports·fishing·forestry·mining·oil and gas·recession·service cuts
The NDP Platform and BC's Economic Challenges
April 20th, 2009 · Marc Lee · Comments Off · BC Election 2009, Climate change, Economy, Provincial budget & finance
Below is an oped of mine that was done at the request of the Vancouver Sun and that ran in today’s paper. Unfortunately, for reasons that are not entirely clear, the last two paragraphs were cut off, leaving the oped hanging. I put them back in below, and have requested that the online version be [...]
Tags: budget·cap-and-trade·carbon tax·deficit·flaring·green infrastructure·greenhouse gas·NDP·oil and gas·platform·recession·tax cuts·unemployment
Happy April fools day. Welcome TILMA
April 1st, 2009 · Keith Reynolds · Comments Off · BC Election 2009, Economy, Municipalities, Privatization, P3s & public services
As of April 1st, the people elected to run our municipalities and school boards had better think twice before they make a decision that might affect the profits of a corporation. On April 1st the Trade Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA) between Alberta and British Columbia comes into full force. Its implications are far [...]
Tags: Council of Canadians·free trade·recession·Steven Shrybman·TILMA
Is funnelling money into shovel-ready projects the best strategy for infrastructure development?
March 27th, 2009 · Iglika Ivanova · Comments Off · BC Election 2009, Economy, Provincial budget & finance
I often get asked: “Shouldn’t we support the Olympics or the Port Mann bridge (or any of the multitude of poorly handled infrastructure projects in our province) despite their substantial cost overruns on the grounds that they will create jobs and benefit the economy?” The problem with this question is that it allows for two [...]
Tags: passenger rail·Port Mann·recession·stimulus·transportation
