Skip to main content
best reads

Every day ROB Insight delivers exclusive analysis on breaking business news and market-moving events. Streetwise offers news and analysis on Bay Street and the world of finance.

Here are our editors' picks of some of the best reads available to Globe Unlimited subscribers this week.

Entitled to their entitlements?

Yes, they've paid their taxes all their working lives, too, but should seniors with annual incomes as high as $70,000 be receiving the full OAP allowance? In ROB Insight, David Parkinson writes that the amount Ottawa would save at the lower clawback level suggested by the Fraser Institute would be minimal, but suggests the funds could be better deployed with higher payouts to seniors living in near-poverty.

Derivatives trading still a threat

The business that brought the international financial system to its knees in 2009 still poses a threat, according to – wait for it – the International Swaps and Derivatives Association. You know something must be wrong when your staunchest defender issues a mea culpa and admits much more has to be done, says Tim Kiladze in Streetwise. While there has been some progress in the four years since G20 leaders met to discuss the problem, a lack of transparency and the inability to track trading across different markets have been cited as two key areas badly in need of reform.

Every shutdown has its silver lining

Panda aficionados may be weeping now that the camera has faded to black, but there are reasons to be cheerful about the U.S. federal government shutdown, says Brian Milner in ROB Insight. For starters, those nervous about an imminent move by the Fed to taper off monetary stimulus can rest a little easier, and rising public frustration could make lawmakers think twice before embarking on a dreaded pistols-at-dawn showdown over raising the debt ceiling later this month.

Investment banking fees drying up

Investment banking fees in Canada have been on the decline in the first three quarters of the year, and while the percentage drops in other countries such as Australia, Spain and Brazil are much bigger, a hot deal-making climate in Canada means the fall in dollar terms is much bigger, writes Boyd Erman in Streetwise.The shift sees Canada falling behind the U.K. and Japan, but still ahead of bigger economies such as China's and Germany's.

Whither (or wither) Canada's auto sector?

Despite long-term financial support for governments and award-winning manufacturing facilities, Canadian car makers just can't catch a break. Another forecast predicts a steady and significant decline in production as globalization continues apace. Policy makers really only have two options, writes Scott Barlow in ROB Insight, and neither of them are very palatable.

Interact with The Globe