Economics Newsletter – Week of March 22nd 2021

Written By: Amit Shteyer & Hannah Lobbezoo

Canada’s Economy at a Glance

Economics Society News, Events, and Articles

Articles:

Agriculture, the seed of the world’s economy by Adshake Kunanithy

News:

Join our virtual ECON lounge on Discord!
Register for our ‘Do all UW Arts students think the same?” event happening on Wednesday March 31st, 2021. This is a virtual social discussion/experiment that we are hosting along with the Sociology Society and the Psychology Society!

News and Noteworthy

Bank of Canada set to slow its bond buying ahead of G7 peers
Canada will be the first of the Group of Seven central banks to slow the financing of pandemic initiatives. Primarily, this is represented by tapering of bond purchasing which was a primary quantitative measure to keep market interest rates low in the pandemic. Read More.

Court ruling on federal carbon price both clarifying and worrying, say experts
On March 25th the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the federal carbon price is constitutional. With this ruling comes questions about Canada’s ability to compete in energy with pricing affecting key Canadian markets. Read More.

Ship still stuck in Suez Canal for 2 entire days now as backlog grows to 150 other ships
A ship the length of 4 football fields is stuck in Egypt’s Suez Canal – blocking more than 150 ships needing to pass by. It is estimated that everyday the canal is blocked it disrupts over 9 billion US worth of goods and cargo. Read More.

Canadians are itching to spend their pandemic nest eggs on exotic vacations, backyard pools and cottages
Canadians have been saving up a lot more than usual during the past year and are looking to spend their cash on luxurious vacations and getaways. The Bank of Canada stated that Canadians have saved over $180-billion in funds during the pandemic, showing signs of a possibly faster recovery for the economy as more money is available for spending. Read More.

Powerful U.S economic surge will help countries like Canada, says Federal Reserve Chair
U.S Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell, announced a forecasted climb in both U.S economic growth and jobs that are expected to overflow to neighbouring countries such as Canada. He also predicts that long term inflation and interest rates will remain low even with an economic boom, which is exciting news for Canadian investors. Read More.

Ottawa should review employment insurance, benefit triggers as economy recovers: IMF
The IMF has several suggestions for future government spending in Canada as, although the Canadian response was well-coordinated, it also contributed to a large fiscal deficit. It suggests that Canada needs to increase its productivity by reviewing its employment insurance system to address issues and gaps arising since CERB ended. Read More.

UW Economics Society