Category Archives: Original Articles

Can Corporations Be Religious? Critical Review of Burwell vs Hobby Lobby et al; Part 2

Check out Part 1 to see where the concurring opinion’s views were left off

On the use of principles in making a judgement, legal positivism would hold that such a method is weak, as principles do not determine particular results and are indeterminate (Hart 127-28). As such, Hobby Lobby should be provided religious freedom on the bounds that the principles cited by the concurring opinion are intangible weights of evaluation, whereas only the rules governing those particular cases of precedence are relevant. Hence, the dissenting opinion cites the Dictionary Act definition of ‘person’ as one that includes only specific corporations such as nonprofit organizations and profiting individuals, to establish that a comprehensive interpretation of ‘person’ has already been taken into account as part of the rule (SCOTUS 73).

Continue reading…

Can Corporations Be Religious? A Critical Review of Burwell vs Hobby Lobby et al; Part 1

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) utilizes certain regulations of the Affordable Care Act of 2010 to determine insurance coverage for employees, whereby employers are required to provide “prevent care and screenings” to women, including contraceptives approved by the FDA, without cost-sharing (SCOTUS 1). The owners of three corporations, Hobby Lobby Stores, Mardel and Conestoga Wood Specialties, disagreed with providing such care, as four of the contraceptives approved by the DFA “prevent [an] already fertilized egg from developing further”, and such a method went against their religious beliefs (2).

Continue reading…

Unemployment Rates Fall in Canada and U.S

July’s labour market figures in Canada show a healthy situation with unemployment rate falling to 6.3%, a decrease of 0.2%, according to Statistics Canada. The last 12-months saw employment rise by 388,000 where the majority – 354,000 jobs – was in full-time work. The employment growth was driven by wholesale and retail trade, information, and manufacturing. Employment in wholesale and retail trade lead the growth with an increase of 22,000, trending upward since late 2016. Information and culture and recreation sectors have been mostly consistent with little change in growth, month to month. Wages are still rising at a low level and this remains a concern for both Canada and the U.S. Canada’s job market also faces a lowering labour force participation rate, falling from 65.9 to 65.7%, affected by factors we will go over later in the article.

In regards to our neighbors down south, the U.S unemployment rate fell to 4.3% from 4.4%, reaching its 16-year low. A 209,000 increase in July non-farm payrolls beat the expectations of The Wall Street Journal surveyed economists who expected 180,000 new jobs. This job growth was driven by food services, professional and business services, and health care industries. A standout of the statistics is the significant growth seen in traditionally lower wage industries such as home health-care and food services. Furthermore, leisure and hospitality saw a wage gain of 3.8% which outpaces the average. These trends paint a brighter picture for low-wage jobs as there appears to still be some slack in the job market even with tightening monetary policies. However, like in Canada, wage growth continues to be modest in most industries where hourly earnings increased 2.5% for the fourth consecutive month.  It is important to note that once wages are adjusted for inflation, the growth rate is outperforming the 30 year average.

An indicator that is likely to continue to raise concerns in both Canada and the U.S is the labour force participation rate. The U.S participation rate sits at 62.9% in July with very little movement over the past year.  This indicator shows the number of people who are employed or are actively looking for a job. A number of factors contribute to the high number of Canadians and Americans who are outside the labour force. Discouraged workers, people who believe no jobs are available to them, remains fairly unchanged over the year at 536,000 in the U.S. A study conducted by Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers back in 2015 found that structural factors included aging population and prime-age participation rates of males and females declining. Aging trends accounted for over 50% of the overall LFP trend.

With that being said, the labour markets remain a bright spot for both Canada and the US. The July labour market releases tell a similar story to ones we have seen all year, where a fairly health labour market is seeing strong job growth while contrasted by weak wages that will hopefully pickup in the near future.


  1. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/170804/dq170804a-eng.htm
  2. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf
  3. https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-hiring-maintains-strong-pace-jobless-rate-falls-to-4-3-1501849959
  4. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-04/americans-on-lower-rungs-get-relief-as-labor-market-strengthens
  5. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/docs/20150806_labor_force_participation_retirement_research_consortium.pdf

Basic Income: 3 Questions We Must Answer

Originally, I was going to write this article on the Liberal government’s choice to increase the minimum wage to $14 by Jan. 1st, 2017, and to $15 by Jan 1st, 2018. [1] But, as an employee at a closely-held business , I foresee hurting both my chance of being employed in the future, as well as the security of the few hours I have as a part-time worker. Regardless,as I surveyed the work of  various research groups, I began to realize that the question, as automation replaces many of the ‘blue-collar’ and well-paying ‘white-collar’ jobs, is not necessarily whether basic income should be implemented, but rather how it should be implemented. (It was impossible to make an definitive judgements given many of the projects had completely different variations of minimum wage hikes.)

Continue reading…

Bank of Canada: Rate Hike July 2017

  1. For the first time in 7 years, the Bank of Canada has chosen to raise the overnight rate target from 0.5% to 0.75%. This is following the rate hikes that we have seen in the United States in June, despite other diverging interest rate strategies set out by various central banks around the world.

Why a rate hike now?

 

bankofcanada1

Source: Bank of Canada

For the most part, economists have expected a rate hike, citing strong growth after the 2008-2009 recession, the fastest within the G7, and growth targets almost double than those set by the Bank of Canada[1]. However, the improved economic outlook also played a strong role in increasing household debts caused by cheap credit, that for many economists, put the Canadian housing market at risk.

In fact, given the problems and strengths economists have seen within the last two to three fiscal years, government bond markets have been moving up, with almost 75% of economists predicting a rate hike.[2] The anticipation of a rate hike has caused a strong selling trend within the Canadian government bond market, with 10-year treasury notes reaching yields as high as 2.39%, and two-year yields surging 26 basis points.[3]

bankofcanada2.PNG

Source: Bank of Canada

As well as the domestic growth, the Bank of Canada looked to foreign economies, citing stronger and broader growth with the eurozone, and moderate expansion within the American economy. Globally, the Bank of Canada anticipates global growth to total 3.4% this year, despite uncertainty caused by potential trade policy changes within the United States, especially given that projections signal a declining American share of global GDP, with anticipated growth rates dropping to 1.8% by 2019 [4]. Emerging markets are projected to continue rapid growth.

Oil & Natural Gas

The crumbling oil prices, now sitting around $50 a barrel,[5] are projected to continue to sit at such historic levels, despite OPEC attempts to to curb production, given an increase of US shale production. The BoC foresees declining prices in the short term, citing technological improvements. However, they advise increases in the price, citing decreased investments that may lead to a shortage in supply. Overall, it appears that the Bank of Canada believes that oil prices have stabilized within the projection horizon, and does not believe the sector poses severe threats to the economy, thus giving the Bank a great opportunity to wean the Canadian economy off of cheap credit.

Summary

In general, the Canadian economy has made a well-maintained exit out of the 2008-2009 recession, marked by some of the strongest growth in Canadian history. Considering rising CPI inflation and stable growth with some of Canada’s largest trading partners, namely with the United States and the Eurozone, albeit political uncertainty, the Bank of Canada sees reason to increase the overnight rate target from 0.5% to 0.75%.  

[1] http://www.bankofcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/mpr-2017-07-12.pdf

[2] Ibid.

[3] http://business.financialpost.com/news/economy/your-guide-to-the-bank-of-canadas-bellwether-rate-decision/wcm/ace08235-acab-4d52-8fcc-8bd02471d69b

[4] http://www.bankofcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/mpr-2017-07-12.pdf

[5] Ibid.