CPP expansion could result in a reduction in domestic investment up to $114 billion from 2019 to 2030
By Charles Lammam and Taylor Jackson The Fraser Institute Canada has a growing investment problem. Business investment (excluding residential structures like houses and condos) has dropped nearly 20 per cent since 2014. The level of business investment (as a share of the economy) in Canada is now second lowest among 17 advanced countries. Meanwhile, foreign…
Canadians receive meagre rates of return on CPP contributions and the program has other key shortcomings
By Charles Lammam and Hugh MacIntyre The Fraser Institute Misperceptions plague the public’s view of the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), despite efforts to provide some clarity. Mark Machin, chief executive officer of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) – the organization tasked with investing CPP contributions – recently hit the road in a cross-country…
Help the working poor with targeted benefits like the CWB, not misguided minimum wage hikes
By Charles Lammam and Hugh MacIntyre The Fraser Institute Everyone wants to help the working poor. Unfortunately, governments across the country are going about it the wrong way by raising the minimum wage to $15. That misguided move does a bad job of targeting the people we want to help and produces a host of…
B.C. government sending all the wrong signals to investors, which could lead to a rude economic awakening
By Charles Lammam, Hugh MacIntyre and Ashley Stedman The Fraser Institute Consumer spending and a hot real estate market have helped buoy British Columbia’s economy in recent years. But they’ve also helped mask deep-rooted economic problems, including B.C.’s dismal level of business investment. Unfortunately, an onslaught of recent policies from Premier John Horgan’s government has weakened…
Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s budget fails to address sluggish economic growth and declining business investment
By Charles Lammam and Hugh MacIntyre The Fraser Institute Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s 2018 federal budget does nothing to address serious concerns over Canada’s economic prospects or the challenges emerging from the United States. In some respects, the budget makes matters worse by continuing the government’s self-destructive policies of chronic deficit-financed spending and new taxes…
Raising the minimum wage is a flawed strategy for achieving the critically important social objective of raising people out of poverty
By Charles Lammam and Hugh MacIntyre The Fraser Institute As the old saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. But good intentions alone aren’t enough to justify government policy. Real-world evidence matters. B.C. Premier John Horgan nonetheless recently announced plans to raise the province’s minimum wage by 34 per cent over…
He can, by following in Jean Chretien's footsteps and finding savings through a comprehensive review of its programs
By Charles Lammam and Hugh MacIntyre The Fraser Institute The federal government can start now to make good on its promise to balance the budget by 2019-20. All it will take is relatively modest spending reductions in the budget to be delivered on Tuesday – and the will to make them happen. During the 2015…
The B.C. budget does little to improve the investment climate or mitigate the effects of policy changes emanating from the U.S.
By Charles Lammam Hugh MacIntyre The Fraser Institute The fact that the first full budget from B.C.’s new government includes major tax increases will likely go unnoticed by many – unfortunately. Instead, many economic commentators will focus on the government’s aim to balance the operating budget every year. A fiscal framework that avoids the deficit-financed…
It can continue to pursue fiscal prudence or follow other provinces that are plagued by chronic shortfalls and ongoing budgetary challenges
By Charles Lammam and Hugh MacIntyre The Fraser Institute As the old cliché goes, if you don’t learn from past mistakes, you’re doomed to repeat them. But the opposite is also true – learning from previous successes can be as valuable. As it prepares to introduce its first full budget, British Columbia’s NDP government would do well…
The 2016 CPP reforms were solutions in search of a problem – and don’t even solve the imagined problem
By Jason Clemens and Charles Lammam The Fraser Institute The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) needs a comprehensive review, followed by real reform. The provincial and federal finance ministers said recently they will re-examine certain aspects of the CPP reforms agreed to in late 2016. But they will avoid a larger re-evaluation of the efficacy of an expanded CPP. Clearly,…
By Charles Lammam and Taylor Jackson The Fraser Institute Canada has a growing investment problem. Business investment (excluding residential structures like houses and condos) has dropped nearly 20 per cent since 2014. The level of business investment (as a share of the economy) in Canada is now second lowest among 17 advanced countries. Meanwhile, foreign…
