stimulus
Christine Lagarde on slow growth, inequality and fighting cynicism
A Q&A with the head of the International Monetary Fund ahead of her rare visit to Canada this week.
The Canadian upending how the IMF thinks about the economy
The deputy head of the IMF research department, Jonathan Ostry, on why countries with fiscal space to stimulate their economies ‘should not sweat the debt’
How Canada became the world’s economic Rorschach test
The idea that Canada has the fix for what ails the world economy—this time, with debt-fuelled stimulus spending—has proven enduringly enticing over the years
The problem with using infrastructure to stimulate the economy
The immediate boost to the economy from infrastructure stimulus spending is minimal, while the cost for any new jobs it creates can be huge
Why Joe Oliver is condemning Canada to economic mediocrity
The IMF has a message the finance minister doesn’t want to hear: unless you are broke, you should be using fiscal policy to generate economic growth
When it comes to the global austerity debate, Canada is special
Bring on the debates on stimulus and austerity, but let’s use the Canadian context rather than importing ill-suited arguments from abroad.
The Commons: Ipso facto governance
Cast off ye shackles of tyranny and step into the light of a world without math
Well, there’s your problem
The fall report of the auditor general is here.
Stephen Harper lectures the world
The Prime Minister calls on Europe and the G20 to get their respective and collective houses in order.
So what does Jim Flaherty do now about the economy?
Economic turmoil has the finance minister under pressure to take action
Less worse off
Stephen Gordon considers how much credit the government can take for our relatively good economic situation.
Stimulus vs Austerity 2.0
Economic arguments are, by their nature, complex and abstract. Few more so than the question of whether massive government spending helps or hurts the economy. That’s why there’s been so much attention paid to the divergent paths the U.S. and U.K. took after the Great Recession. Under Prime Minister David Cameron the U.K. pursued hard-nosed austerity to tackle the country’s deficits, while the U.S. resisted all such moves and instead opted for more stimulus. Here we had a massive lab experiment pitting two economic theories against each other, playing out in real time on the world stage. Back in January Maclean’s delved into the battle in our story Which Country is Right.