The recent return of inflation closer to its two percent target simply means prices are rising at a more normal pace, not that affordability has improved—these challenges are going to persist for many years to come.
Canada’s central bank raised its primary policy interest rate to 5 percent, the tenth increase since early last year, when the rate was barely above zero. We’re now at levels not seen since 2001, and the speed of the increase exceeds any in over four decades.
While achieving net zero comes with a cost, it is entirely manageable. If Alberta saved just a little more of its resource revenues today, higher investment returns would more than cover the coming drop in resource revenues.
By embedding productivity concerns at the core of policymaking in Canada, we wouldn’t just be building a more competitive economy. We’d be enabling a more prosperous future for all of us.
We should take the typical coverage surrounding Canadian household debt levels with several large grains of salt. Digging deeper into the data makes clear that Canada’s debt situation may not be as ominous as it first appears.
Most talk of a new digital currency is misplaced. In almost every way that matters, it already exists. Proposals to expand access to it or to improve back-end payments systems is a far more boring—but a far more accurate and helpful—way to think about it.
What makes Alberta’s 2023 election especially interesting, though, is how so much may depend on so few. Of the roughly two million votes that may be cast, the winner could be decided by a small handful—potentially a few hundred—in just a few critical ridings.
The government, it seems, is rapidly moving away from market-based approaches to lower greenhouse gas emissions and instead opting for more targeted initiatives and stricter regulations, including a cap on emissions from the oil and gas sector.
The Bank of Canada’s job is never easy, but it is especially difficult today. A pause in any further rate increases is entirely warranted, and we may even see cuts in the not-too-distant future.
Our past success in CPP reform demonstrates that governments can work across party lines within our sometimes fractious federation to implement smart policy focused on our long-term future. This is something we see too little of today.
