Matthew Lau: Brutal productivity numbers require more Carney course corrections
Raising output requires more business investment per worker, and that won't happen without reformed and reduced regulation and taxes
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Canada’s lagging productivity growth has been widely discussed, especially after Bank of Canada senior deputy governor Carolyn Rogers last year declared it “an emergency” and said “it’s time to break the glass.” The federal Liberal government, now entering its 11th year in office, admitted in its recent budget that “productivity remains weak, limiting wage gains for workers.”
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Numerous recent reports show just how weak Canada’s productivity has been. A recent study published by the Fraser Institute shows that since 2001, labour productivity has increased only 16.5 per cent in Canada versus 54.7 per cent in the United States, with our underperformance especially notable after 2017. Weak business investment is a primary reason for Canada’s continued poor economic outcomes.
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