Gary Rabbior is the president of the Canadian Foundation for Economic Education. This is the first of a six-part series on understanding how the economy works and why it matters to investors.
At one point in time, there were some general agreements on what should be the goals for the Canadian economy. These goals were put forth by the Economic Council of Canada and were, for the most part, widely supported. The Council has long since disappeared however and there has not been much talk of what the goals are – or could be – for the Canadian economy since.
So, in the absence of any widespread, generally accepted goals for what we should be trying to do with Canada’s economy, let’s offer a few up as possibilities. If our economy is managed well, if our money and monetary conditions are managed well, and if our financial system works well, we would probably like our economy to:
• create and provide good quality jobs for Canadians, enabling them to earn incomes for themselves and their families and achieve a desirable standard of living,
• use resources wisely to produce goods and services efficiently that our citizens need and want
• use resources wisely to produce goods and services that are globally competitive and enabling us to sell exports and help boost the well-being of both Canadians and those who buy our exports
• increase the output of goods and services produced over time enabling us to create additional wealth to improve the well-being of all Canadians
• allocate the wealth produced in Canada in a fair and equitable manner
• provide social programs as needed to increase the ability of Canadians to achieve financial security – and to help those unable to attend to their own needs,
• factor into our economic decisions the impact our activities will have on our environment and the long-term quality of life of Canadians
• manage our resources and environment so that their availability and condition are equal to, or superior than, today’s for future generations
• provide opportunities for all Canadians to achieve a standard of living and quality of life that is consistent with what we, as a society, regard is an acceptable minimum level of well-being
