In many western countries, COVID-19 infection rates are rising again. For some like the UK, France and Spain, it appears that the second wave of the pandemic is already here. The science also tells us that we may see a further upsurge in 2021. We do not know how effective early vaccines will be, and the rollout of vaccination programmes will be gradual.
A major issue for governments is the extent to which they have the fiscal firepower to protect jobs and economic activity. In the UK, the government’s spring and summer measures to protect businesses and jobs were expected to add £192 billion to the budget deficit, increasing the debt-to-GDP ratio from 85.4% in 2019 to 106.4% by March 2021.
These are the highest levels of debt since the early 1960s, and record budget deficit levels for peacetime. And yet the second wave of COVID-19 is going to strain the fiscal response much further. Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s newly revamped job support scheme and other measures to help businesses suffering under the latest restrictions will cost further billions.
To get a possible sense of where this might be heading, the Institute for Fiscal Studies in June modelled for a scenario in which there was a second wave of COVID-19 in the fourth quarter of 2020 and targeted regional lockdowns in the first half of 2021. It predicted that this would produce a budget deficit of over 20% of GDP this year – equivalent to second world war levels – and a debt-to-GDP ratio of nearly 120% by 2024-25.
If this is the kind of situation that many countries are now facing, what options are open to governments, and what key indicators should they focus on?
1. Growth first, sound money second
Governments must prioritise resuming economic growth from 2021 onwards. Put simply, this will require them to go easy on raising taxes or cutting spending quickly to stabilise the debt-to-GDP level. The fiscal correction which would be required to stabilise public finances will be less if a faster recovery can be engineered.
Governments must focus on public investments, particularly those aimed at boosting research and development spending and productivity growth. Many observers have recommended that governments put money into greening the economy. Not only will this stimulate growth in sectors for the future, it will also help address the climate crisis.
2. Build confidence
There needs to be a clear strategy to restore economic confidence, which is inextricably linked to people’s confidence in how the pandemic and its economic fallout is being managed. Even before the second wave took hold, it was clear that the economic recovery was slowing during the summer in many advanced economies.
The OECD reported in September that Google data on people’s shopping and recreational activity (as a proxy for what they are consuming from social businesses) had not returned to pre-pandemic levels. Order books in most advanced economies (except China) did not fully recover either.
Retail is still a hard sell (unless you’re Amazon). EPA
It’s clear that consumer and business confidence cannot fully bounce back until uncertainty on the duration of the pandemic begins to subside. This is one reason why a number of economists have urged countries like the UK, where the economic hit has been worse, to focus on protecting employment. The furlough scheme in the UK should probably have been extended into this second wave, and the chancellor’s latest expansion of the job support scheme looks like a partial U-turn.
3. Test and trace still vital
Linked to this need to reduce uncertainty, there is no trade-off between health and the economy. Countries which have done better at keeping infection rates low have also done well at reducing the economic slump.
Some of that success with infections may have been good fortune, or early action in closing travel down quickly in early 2020. But countries such as Finland and Germany also had a strong capacity for testing and tracing and very quickly built it up further. Even at this stage, countries like the UK need to look at whether test and trace can be quickly improved, even at the cost of increased investment.
4. More targeted support
As the recovery begins to strengthen during 2021, a key conundrum for policymakers will be whether to prioritise stimulating aggregate demand in the economy, such as using tax cuts, or more targeted support measures for particular sectors or parts of the workforce.
It has recently been said that the recovery after a second wave might be more W-shaped as a whole, but K-shaped for individual sectors. In other words, while sectors like online retail and technology/software are booming, others like conventional retail, travel and hospitality will take a long time to recover.
Business support may need to switch to a more sectoral approach. The UK has done a little here with the “eat out to help out” scheme and now small monthly grants for firms in sectors like hospitality and leisure.
Sectors like hospitality need more help than others. EPA
Similarly, governments will have to focus their support on those in the labour market for whom the “scarring effects” of unemployment will be most serious. For instance, the crisis will particularly affect the job prospects of young people whose transition from education to work is being disrupted. At the recovery stage, support will therefore need to be switched to job creation – for example, by lowering employer national insurance contributions for employers creating new jobs.
We are entering a pivotal period in our fight against COVID-19. While there is no denying the challenges ahead, we are also better prepared and more knowledgeable than in March. Policymakers must use this to their advantage and craft an economic response which is comprehensive and nimble in equal measure.
OTTAWA – Canada’s unemployment rate held steady at 6.5 per cent last month as hiring remained weak across the economy.
Statistics Canada’s labour force survey on Friday said employment rose by a modest 15,000 jobs in October.
Business, building and support services saw the largest gain in employment.
Meanwhile, finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing experienced the largest decline.
Many economists see weakness in the job market continuing in the short term, before the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts spark a rebound in economic growth next year.
Despite ongoing softness in the labour market, however, strong wage growth has raged on in Canada. Average hourly wages in October grew 4.9 per cent from a year ago, reaching $35.76.
Friday’s report also shed some light on the financial health of households.
According to the agency, 28.8 per cent of Canadians aged 15 or older were living in a household that had difficulty meeting financial needs – like food and housing – in the previous four weeks.
That was down from 33.1 per cent in October 2023 and 35.5 per cent in October 2022, but still above the 20.4 per cent figure recorded in October 2020.
People living in a rented home were more likely to report difficulty meeting financial needs, with nearly four in 10 reporting that was the case.
That compares with just under a quarter of those living in an owned home by a household member.
Immigrants were also more likely to report facing financial strain last month, with about four out of 10 immigrants who landed in the last year doing so.
That compares with about three in 10 more established immigrants and one in four of people born in Canada.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information says health-care spending in Canada is projected to reach a new high in 2024.
The annual report released Thursday says total health spending is expected to hit $372 billion, or $9,054 per Canadian.
CIHI’s national analysis predicts expenditures will rise by 5.7 per cent in 2024, compared to 4.5 per cent in 2023 and 1.7 per cent in 2022.
This year’s health spending is estimated to represent 12.4 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product. Excluding two years of the pandemic, it would be the highest ratio in the country’s history.
While it’s not unusual for health expenditures to outpace economic growth, the report says this could be the case for the next several years due to Canada’s growing population and its aging demographic.
Canada’s per capita spending on health care in 2022 was among the highest in the world, but still less than countries such as the United States and Sweden.
The report notes that the Canadian dental and pharmacare plans could push health-care spending even further as more people who previously couldn’t afford these services start using them.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
As Canadians wake up to news that Donald Trump will return to the White House, the president-elect’s protectionist stance is casting a spotlight on what effect his second term will have on Canada-U.S. economic ties.
Some Canadian business leaders have expressed worry over Trump’s promise to introduce a universal 10 per cent tariff on all American imports.
A Canadian Chamber of Commerce report released last month suggested those tariffs would shrink the Canadian economy, resulting in around $30 billion per year in economic costs.
More than 77 per cent of Canadian exports go to the U.S.
Canada’s manufacturing sector faces the biggest risk should Trump push forward on imposing broad tariffs, said Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters president and CEO Dennis Darby. He said the sector is the “most trade-exposed” within Canada.
“It’s in the U.S.’s best interest, it’s in our best interest, but most importantly for consumers across North America, that we’re able to trade goods, materials, ingredients, as we have under the trade agreements,” Darby said in an interview.
“It’s a more complex or complicated outcome than it would have been with the Democrats, but we’ve had to deal with this before and we’re going to do our best to deal with it again.”
American economists have also warned Trump’s plan could cause inflation and possibly a recession, which could have ripple effects in Canada.
It’s consumers who will ultimately feel the burden of any inflationary effect caused by broad tariffs, said Darby.
“A tariff tends to raise costs, and it ultimately raises prices, so that’s something that we have to be prepared for,” he said.
“It could tilt production mandates. A tariff makes goods more expensive, but on the same token, it also will make inputs for the U.S. more expensive.”
A report last month by TD economist Marc Ercolao said research shows a full-scale implementation of Trump’s tariff plan could lead to a near-five per cent reduction in Canadian export volumes to the U.S. by early-2027, relative to current baseline forecasts.
Retaliation by Canada would also increase costs for domestic producers, and push import volumes lower in the process.
“Slowing import activity mitigates some of the negative net trade impact on total GDP enough to avoid a technical recession, but still produces a period of extended stagnation through 2025 and 2026,” Ercolao said.
Since the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement came into effect in 2020, trade between Canada and the U.S. has surged by 46 per cent, according to the Toronto Region Board of Trade.
With that deal is up for review in 2026, Canadian Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Candace Laing said the Canadian government “must collaborate effectively with the Trump administration to preserve and strengthen our bilateral economic partnership.”
“With an impressive $3.6 billion in daily trade, Canada and the United States are each other’s closest international partners. The secure and efficient flow of goods and people across our border … remains essential for the economies of both countries,” she said in a statement.
“By resisting tariffs and trade barriers that will only raise prices and hurt consumers in both countries, Canada and the United States can strengthen resilient cross-border supply chains that enhance our shared economic security.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
