
Robert Chernomas
Professor, author and Council of Canadians Board member Robert Chernomas has written a new paper titled ‘Harper at Davos – A Road Not Taken’.
In it, Chernomas points out, “Every two years the World Economic Forum produces its ‘Global Competitiveness Report’, ranking the competitiveness of countries’ economies. …What is most interesting about this list is how few of these countries follow a conservative economic strategy. The countries that dominate the top ten list are the so-called Nordic countries, referred to disparagingly by conservatives as ‘welfare states’. It seems the quality of their public institutions, budget surpluses, low levels of corruption and high degree of technological innovation trump their high taxes and strict regulatory framework…”
He then highlights, “While the 2011-2012 report has some countries shifting positions, the top of the list is still dominated by the Nordic model. Canada ranked 12th. The report identified a gap in private sector’s innovation, the need for greater R&D spending, and producing goods and services higher on the value chain as Canada’s economic weaknesses. And so it is Canada’s private sector, unburdened as it by taxes in an economy with a smaller debt burden, that is identified as the weak link.”
In ‘Harper at Davos – A Road Not Taken’, Chernomas also discusses banking, dirty oil, military spending, prisons and more.
To read the paper, please go to http://canadians.org/austerity/documents/Harper-Davos-0512.pdf.