The CDHI Podcast

Canada is emerging from the first wave of the pandemic with high levels of private and public debt. That's why the Crisis Working Group on Monetary and Financial Measures is urging Canada to recommit to getting our fiscal and monetary houses in order once COVID-19 has passed. Working Group co-chair Mark Zelmer and C.D. Howe Institute Associate Director of Research Jeremy Kronick join host Michael Hainsworth to discuss the key fiscal anchors that will keep Canada’s economy from floating adrift post pandemic.

We're starting to get quantifiable data on the impact of COVID-19 on Canadian businesses. More than half say they won't survive beyond the next 90 days without revenue. Economist and C.D. Howe Institute Senior Fellow Glen Hodgson tells us the survey findings will help us anticipate a few key factors as Canada starts the process of re-opening the economy.

What are the lessons of COVID-19 for Canada’s healthcare sector? Newly appointed Senior Fellow and former Ontario Finance Minister Janet Ecker leans on her experience with SARS and the 2008 financial crisis to offer insight into the crisis and how to be better prepared financially and logistically for the next pandemic.

Analysis of Ottawa's $82 billion emergency response package from the C.D. Howe Institute's Vice President of Research Daniel Schwanen and Associate Director of Research Grant Bishop reveals encouraging support for gig economy workers, struggling homeowners, and small and medium-sized businesses. But is it coming soon enough?

Ottawa is preparing its 2020 Federal Budget, and the Institute is urging Parliament Hill to cut the corporate tax rate and address the impact of COVID-19 on the Canadian economy. President & CEO Bill Robson tells host Michael Hainsworth, further measures may be required.

When does it make sense to cut spending to reduce government debt? The answer from Harvard's Alberto Alesina may surprise you, and he tells host Michael Hainsworth it has everything to do with investor confidence.

Michael Hainsworth sits down with the Institute's Jeremy Kronick to talk about income inequality's effect on inflation, and the rising non-bank financial intermediary sector that could be diluting the effectiveness of monetary policy.

Sidewalk Labs CEO Dan Doctoroff tells Michael Hainsworth he’s optimistic the delayed decision on a 21st century “city within a city” will be a green light, discusses the data privacy issues with the Toronto Quayside plan, and outlines some of the advances the company has researched in sustainable and affordable housing.

New year, new opportunity. 2020 will be the Federal Government’s first real opportunity to build on the platforms of the October 2019 election. Queen’s University adjunct professor Don Drummond and the Institute’s Ben Dachis look ahead to the first full year of governing the new minority government.

Host Michael Hainsworth sits down with economist and Harvard professor Edward Glaeser to talk housing supply, the affordable housing crisis, and and why he believes the housing market is rigged against millennials.