Political Economy of Canada: An Introduction

Alex N. Netherton

Students of Canadian political economy are faced with assimilating and assessing critically a
wealth of detailed research on Canadian political and economic life, from the left-leaning work of
staples theorists to the countless right-wing studies produced by think-tanks like the Fraser Institute. In
this completely revised, updated, and enlarged second edition of the Political Economy of Canada,
Professors Howlett, Netherton, and Ramesh recognize and describe the importance of such factors as
social class and economic force, but also stress the significance of political institutions in their own right
in the production and distribution of wealth. Separate chapters explore the structure and organization
of, and the interrelationships between, the state, labour, and capital in Canada, and show how their
fragmented and decentralized nature limits the capacity of governments to 'control' the economy in an
era of globalization. After considering the strengths and weaknesses of liberal and socialist approaches,
and the staples approach pioneered by Harold Innis, the book outlines the history of the domestic
political economy through the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA). Particular attention is devoted to the constraints imposed in the Canadian state by
a market-oriented, resource-exporting economy and by growing dependence on US trade. The final
chapters examine monetary and fiscal management and industrial development, demonstrating how
new globalizing and regionalizing constraints have formalized Canada's traditional dependency on the
political and economic actions of actors external to the Canadian state.

From Adam Smith onwards, the primary normative goal of classical economic liberalism has
been that of allocative efficiency and the creation of mutual gains. Moreover, based on Smith's concept
of the 'invisible hand' where the decentralised decisions of individuals acting in their own selfinterest
are automatically coordinated towards beneficial social outcomes, classical economic liberals support a
free market economy governed by a 'nightwatchman' state (Howlett et al., 1999). This means that
government intervention in the economy should be kept to a minimum so as not to interfere with the
automatic workings of the invisible hand. ...

On the one hand, they dispute the existence of many of the market failures identified by
classical liberal and Keynesian-welfare economics (Friedman, 1962). On the other, they doubt that
government intervention can effectively correct market failures due to the problem of 'government
failure' (McKean, 1965) and, even if it could, they believe intervention should still be avoided in the
interests of preserving individual freedom (Friedman, 1962;Howlett et al., 1999). Thus, even though
many neoliberals trace their intellectual lineage to Adam Smith, a number of observers have argued that
Smith was far less laissez-faire in his support for free markets (Brown, 1993;Richardson, 2001;Stein,
1994;Viner, 1927). ...

Having outlined its theoretical rationale and uniqueness, this section argues that neoliberal
nationalism may be on the rise due to recent changes in the political strategies of social democratic
social forces. Social democracy, while originally conceived as a parliamentary strategy for evolving to
socialism, today tends to sit on the left side of the economically liberal spectrum in that it draws on the
'embedded liberalism' of Keynesianwelfare economics and the normative priorities of efficiency and
social justice (Held, 2004;Howlett et al., 1999). These priorities, in turn, lead to an emphasis on a market
economy combined with policies of wealth redistribution and the correction of market failures. ...

Marie-José Fortin

The industrialization of the country was performed based on the formation of private investment
activity and was financed via natural rent (Howlett et al., 1999;Kapitsa, 2014). At the same time,
Canada's state energy policy is based on strengthening its position in world energy markets (foreign
policy -Extractive Sector Trade Strategy) (Caulfield, 2015), on the one hand, and on maintaining the
investment attractiveness of national production facilities (domestic policy -licensed rental system for
the provision of subsoil for use (Baykova, 2013) on the other one. ...

Nataliya Korolkova

In a broader international-comparative setting, so too does the fact that they are located in North
America, beside the American paragon of welfare state and production liberalism, and profoundly
shaped, even in Quebec, by the legacies of British constitutional and political-economic practices.
Provincial polities are therefore variations on the adulterated liberalism that is generally judged to
characterize Canada as a whole – a broadly market-oriented production regime, where the national
state has frequently been significantly more active in guiding economic development than in either the
U.S. or the U.K (Howlett and Ramesh, 1992); and an also broadly-liberal welfare state, whose universal
health care and substantially greater success in redistributing income nevertheless sets it apart from its
southern neighbour (Myles and Pierson, 1997). ...

Rodney Haddow

We did not treat political economy as a dominant theme because the subject lacks chapter-length
attention in most textbooks, including our own. For an overview of Canadian international relations, see
Petra Dolata's " Canada and the World " review essay in this issue; for Canadian political economy, see
Howlett et al. (1999).We do not suggest these are impregnable groupings or that they are mutually
exclusive categories.

Jan 2017

Yann Fournis

Neither adapting nor innovating: the limited transformation of Canadian foreign trade policy since 1984

Canada failed to respond with innovative solutions to shifting international economic pressures
emerging in the 1970s. Canadian trade policy embraced offensive solutions in areas of comparative
advantage but not in sectors with high political and economic costs, thereby limiting opportunities to
join emerging supply chains outside of North America and hampering goals of reducing reliance on the
American market. International trade disputes resulting from these policies also restricted innovation, as
did the structures of Canadian federalism, Canada’s regional political economy, the country’s industrial
policy and internal trade regimes, limits on bureaucratic capacity, and pressures from non-governmental
interests. Where innovation did exist, it occurred incrementally and asymmetrically across sectors, while
usually prioritizing offensive economic interests.

May 2018

Christopher J. Kukucha

Adam Chapnick and Christopher J. Kukucha. The Harper Era in Canadian Foreign Policy: Parliament,
Politics, and Canada’s Global Posture Vancouver

The Governance of Fiscal Policy in the United Kingdom and Canada

This article analyzes the governance of fiscal policy in the United Kingdom and Canada under the Blair
Government and the Chrétien Government. It seeks to identify whether the capacity of the core
executive to steer fiscal policy has been “hollowed out.” The conclusion drawn is that in both the United
Kingdom and Canada, far from having been hollowed out, there has actually been a strengthening of the
capacity of the Treasury and the Department of Finance, respectively, to steer fiscal policy.

Carlos Canesin

The effects of the status quo of the CAP on the international system and the agenda of multilateral
organisms can be observed, for example, in the occasion of the raising of the blockade of the Uruguay
Round (WTO) negotiations, that only arrived at an outcome in 1994 after a resetting of forces promoted
by a change in the position of the EU concerning the agricultural substances that locked the ... [Show full
abstract]

Article

Political and Economic Processes in the Privatization of the Korea Telecommunications Industry: A Ca...
February 2006 · Telecommunications Policy

Dal Yong Jin

He is a professor in the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada where
his research explores platform technologies and ICTs,

The Korean government completed its privatization of Korea Telecom (KT) in May 2002. Privatization
was undertaken at a gradual pace at first mainly because the Korean government did not want to hand
over its managerial power to the privatized plan in 1987. However, the inauguration of the World Trade
Organization (WTO) system and the Korean economic crisis of 1997 forced the government to accelerate
its full privatization plan. During this process, several main players such as the Korean government,
transnational corporations, international organizations, and large domestic conglomerates played
important roles. The full privatization of KT is the result of the political, social, and economic demands of
these players.telecommunications service company, although it announced its

Kanishka Jayasuriya-

currently Professor of Politics and International Studies at the Department of Politics and International
Studies at Murdoch University.

Jayasuriya looks at the changing global and domestic political economies shaping the new regionalism in
Asia, and examines the relationship between regional domestic, political and economic structures and
forms of regional governance. Well-known contributors in the field focus on the impact of globalization
on Asian regionalism.

Free trade agreements of canada

is regularly described as a trading nation as its total trade is worth more than two-thirds of its GDP (the
second highest level in the G7 after Germany). Of that total trade, roughly 75% is done with countries
which are part of free-trade agreements with Canada, primarily the United States through the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).[3] By the end of 2014, Canada bilateral trade hit C$1 trillion
for the first time.