Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Monday, June 06, 2011

Ottawa embraces ‘inaction,’ but should act on jobless rate

Observers expect little to have changed between Jim Flaherty's March budget and today's second run at it. And on many fronts, there's little need to change it from the pre-election version.

Jobs, however, are another matter, particularly as the United States hits a slow stretch.

The new majority government is in an enviable position compared to its counterparts across the globe. Consider Europe's struggles, for example, or the threat by Moody's Investors Service to put the U.S. debt rating under review if politics block a higher debt ceiling.

"Since last fall, Canada's domestic stability has made the expansion relatively easy to forecast and easier still to manage," said Mark Hopkins, a senior economist at Moody's Analytics.

"Unemployment has drifted downward, core inflation has remained low, and financial markets have been booming. All this has prompted fiscal and monetary authorities to act far more conservatively than their G7 counterparts, embracing inaction as their best strategy."

Mr. Hopkins is right that unemployment has drifted down, but "drifted" is the key word. Unemployment is running at 7.6 per cent - and that's not expected to change much when Statistics Canada releases the May jobs report this Friday - and the youth jobless level is above 14 per cent. Some economists believe Friday's report could even show an increase in the national unemployment rate to 7.7 per cent.

Full Article
Source: Globe & Mail 

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