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David Macdonald
David Macdonald (he/him) is a senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Follow him on X at @DavidMacCdn.
Breakfast of champions
Record-breaking total compensation: Average pay for the best-paid 100 CEOs hit $14.3 million in 2021, smashing the previous record of $11.8 million in 2018 and setting…
A tale of two pandemics: the rich and the rest of us
On the whole, Canada’s richest one per cent got a decent raise in the first year of the pandemic; the bottom 50 per cent? Not so much.
Ottawa is flush with cash but signals caution as recession looms
The federal government just released its latest fiscal update. CCPA senior economist David Macdonald has the details.
Flush with cash
In March 2022 we published a report predicting that most provinces would be in fiscal surplus territory by the end of the 2021–22 fiscal year…
Pressure’s on Canada’s grocery giants
They’ve been enjoying excess profits throughout the pandemic.
Submission to the Standing Committee on Finance
On October 24, CCPA senior economist David Macdonald presented to the Standing Committee on Finance for the Pre-Budget Consultations in Advance of the 2023 Budget
A Grey Tsunami: Canada’s great retirement wave
The pandemic labour market phenomenon in the U.S. might be the “great resignation” as people quit their jobs in droves. In Canada, it’s more like the “great retirement” as the Boomers make their exit from the workforce.
What we’re watching as parliament resumes
Parliament has returned from its summer break. We’re expecting a packed—and heated— agenda.
Show me the money: It’s not a worker shortage, it’s a wage shortage
Two-thirds of job postings are offering wages that are too low to entice applicants. Employers are going to have to be more competitive to fill those jobs.
Dangerous liaisons: Canada’s toxic mix of interest rate hikes and private debt
The combination of rising interest rates and high private debt catapults Canada into the top third most dangerous economic periods since the Second World War. If the Bank of Canada hikes interest rates by 0.5% or more in September, we’d move into second place.
Canada’s fight against inflation: Bank of Canada could induce a recession
History tells us that the Bank of Canada has a 0% success rate in fighting inflation by quickly raising interest rates. If a pilot told me that they’d only ever attempted a particular landing three times in the past 60 years with a 0% success rate, that’s not a plane I’d want to be on. Unfortunately, that looks likes the plane all Canadians are on now.
Non-viable businesses need an”off-ramp”
Throughout the pandemic, many small- and medium-sized businesses have weathered the storm, thanks to federal government help. In his deputation to Canada’s federal Industry Committee, David Macdonald says it’s time to give those businesses an “off-ramp”.
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