Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will present the next budget in the House of Commons on April 16, with the government facing considerable political pressure over the economy. Ms. Freeland says the economic plan will be about “building more homes, faster, making life more affordable and creating more good jobs.” (The Globe and Mail)
Here are some experts from McGill University who can comment on this topic:
January 10, 2023 | Professor Christopher Ragan, Director of the Max Bell School of Public Policy spoke at the Global Risk Institute webinar and said it's "very unlikely" that the Bank of Canada has gone too far already and overtightened. He pointed to inflation expectations from businesses for the next two years remaining above the central bank's target range.
January 4 2023 | Professor Christopher Ragan, Director of the Max Bell School of Public Policy shares his thoughts on the state the of the Canadian economy and the health care crisis as it stands at the end of 2022.
April 5, 2022 | In this McGill Tribune article, Max Bell School director Chris Ragan comments on the relationship between war and climate change and expresses his belief that Putin's incursion into Ukraine will cause the West to seriously rethink its reliance on Russian oil and gas.
February 11, 2022 | The COVID-19 pandemic has thrust Canada's economy into an extraordinarily unusual state. To break down the issues, Max Bell School director Chris Ragan spoke to David Mann for an episode of the At a Crossroads podcast. Hear Ragan's perspective on inflation, pent-up demand, supply chain disruptions, the housing market, and more.
February 17, 2022 | In this edition of Politico's Ottawa Playbook, Max Bell School director Chris Ragan comments on Canada's recent history of low levels of inflation.
June 1, 2020 | In the coming weeks, the federal government is expected to begin crafting a stimulus package to lift Canada out of the economic crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on which cabinet ministers have been assigned to the project, it seems clear the Liberals want to incorporate their climate goals into the package, addressing climate change and economic recovery at the same time. Is a stimulus package the best way to deal with a pandemic recession? And is mounting a “green recovery” the most efficient strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions?
May 21, 2020 | In light of the pandemic, governments have moved quickly to support hard-hit workers and businesses. This provision of economic “relief” is different from conventional “stimulus” common during normal recessions. Whereas stimulus policies are all about getting people back to work and businesses back to normal levels of operation, the current relief policies are about replacing people’s incomes while they are safely isolating at home. Replacing a big fraction of the lost income is proving to be very expensive for Canada, and the bill is being added to our public debt.
August 12, 2019 | In this piece, Christopher Ragan, Director of the Max Bell School of Public Policy, argues that economists know the more we lean on carbon pricing, the better off our economy will be. He draws on the experience of Sweden's carbon tax and the U.S efforts to reduce acid rain by taxing sulfur-dioxide producing plants. Instead of opting for intrusive and complex policies to fight climate change, Ragan argues that Canada should create economic incentives that give households and businesses the freedom to respond to the market how they see fit.
June 30, 2019 | For doctors across Canada, the evidence at the bedside is increasingly hard to ignore: climate change poses a serious health risk. Chris Ragan, Director of the Max Bell School of Public Policy, adds that "Economics has a very clear prescription for these challenges: carbon pricing. In the same way that penicillin treats an infection, carbon pricing can help fight climate change."
In a world of political polarization, environmental threats, a changing labour market and growing gaps between rich and poor, there has never been a greater need to engage in a thoughtful examination of public policy and train a new generation of policy leaders.
Against this backdrop, McGill University is pleased to announce that it has received a $10-million donation from Max Bell Foundation to establish a new school of public policy at McGill. The School will reside in McGill’s Faculty of Arts.
