Economics Newsletter – Week of April 5th 2021

Written By: Amit Shteyer & Hannah Lobbezoo

Canada’s Economy at a Glance

Economics Society News, Events, and Articles

Articles:

The Future of Art? by Rohin Patel

News:

Join our virtual ECON lounge on Discord!

Keep an eye out on our Instagram for Exec team applications which will be opening soon for the upcoming spring term.

Goodluck on your exams and we hope to see you all next term!

News and Noteworthy

The pandemic exposed flaws in Canada’s economic system. Fixing them won’t be easy
Canada’s underfunded health-care system was not prepared for COVID-19 and its impact. As the economy shut down, Canada also found itself last in line for vaccines and personal protective equipment (PPE) due to a weak manufacturing sector. The pandemic and our response to it have brought to light these weaknesses and several others such as increased gender inequality. Read more.

Where in Canada are house prices increasing the most? Maybe not where you think
Canada’s average housing market prices have increased by 25% year-over year from February 2020 to February 2021. The reason behind this surge is the uprise in people working from home and the lack of the need to commute. Ontario and the Northwest Territories are currently seeing the largest increases. Read more.

Here’s what Ontario’s big-box stores look like as new COVID-19 state of emergency takes effect
As the Ontario government enacts another emergency stay-at-home order, big box stores are told to block off items deemed non-essential. Retailers such as Walmart, have blocked entire clothing and toy sections with clear wrapping and displays of essential items (such as masks and toilet paper). Read more.

Third wave of COVID-19 reignites debate over paid sick days in Canada
With the third wave of COVID-19 and a recent announcement of the third Ontario lockdown discussions surrounding paid sick leave have re-emerged. With over 58% of Canadian workers not having access to paid sick leave the question arises – should small businesses bear the burden of more expenses during a global pandemic or do provincial programs need to start operating more efficiently? Read More.

US offers new plan in global corporate tax talks
Talks of global tax levies have been spurred by President Biden’s new plan up for discussion with the OECD. The plan was sent to 135 different countries that propose a minimum tax levy paid to governments based on sales in each country. The hope is that with more stable global taxation rules will stem tax evasion. Read More.

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