I really like hearing from Jim Stanford and Mike Moffat - they have interesting things to say and they seem to know their stuff.
But holy duck. Isn’t there anyone else qualified to talk about this stuff? They seem to turn up in 90% of these articles from the Post, to the Globe, to the CBC.
There are others. But I suspect these guys are the most media-friendly of economists. I went to business school and I can tell you the stuff Stanford and Moffat are talking about.
That’s the job of the central bank and only them; and that’s one of their tools.
Anyone telling you otherwise has an agenda.
“No one else seems willing to help” suggests an alternative, when I’m thinking that’s like saying “the helicopter ambulance crew transports the wounded to hospital past the traffic . No one else with a spare helicopter outfitted as an air ambulance seems willing to help.”
“No one else seems willing to help” suggests an alternative
The article includes a number of alternatives.
Inflation is having a negative effect on Canadians. It is absolutely reasonable for all levels of government to improve policy so we have better lives.
It can’t possibly only be the job of the central bank when the government can effectively print money backed by unsecured debt.
Inflation will only end when people run out of money to (over)spend. The BoC is doing their part by making debt cost more, the government is acting in reverse by handing out more and more “free” money which enables people when they would have otherwise run out.
The article points out that’s the problem. It’s not only them. The government sets fiscal policy while the central bank sets monetary policy. The article has quotes from economists saying that the government has been doing little to nothing to fight inflation with changes to fiscal policy and leaving it all up to the central bank, which can really only adjust the interest rate.
So it’s more like “the helicopter ambulance crew is getting patients to the hospital but there’s a lack of medical professionals and funding so the patients aren’t doing so well, but everyone is acting like it’s the ambulance crews fault for not doing enough when the government is the one who controls healthcare funding”
Personally, I think the government isn’t changing their fiscal policy because it’s bad for politicians. In order for them to rein in inflation they’d need to raise taxes and implement more financial regulations which would be incredibly unpopular right before a tight election.
Are we right before a tight election though? We’re basically mid-term right now. Next election doesn’t need to be called until the Fall of 2025
I agree that it’s politically problematic to make tax scheme adjustments. No matter the reasoning it can be spun to be negative, especially by the Taxation is Theft crowd. But like, if it can only be done within the first year of any particular parliament that basically means our elected representatives can never do anything in response to inflation.
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