Room to Manouevre? (Globalization and Policy Convergence)

The overarching theme of the Bell Canada Papers has been the influence of globalization and the information revolution on economic and public policy. In the sixth Bell Canada Papers Conference, attention was directed to the degree of policy flexibility that Canada has in this progressively global and information era.

Session I provides a wide-ranging survey of how North American integration impinges on a myriad of key policy areas and how this may influence Canada's room to manoeuvre. Session II focuses on the degree to which multinationals carry their home-country corporate culture and practices to their host-country environment. Session III addresses the telecomputational revolution and what it implies for Canadian policy in an information age. Session IV reflects on the on-going unbundling of post-war "embedded liberalism" and suggests alternative approaches in terms of which domestic regulatory sovereignty can be made consistent with the greater interplay of market forces ushered in by globalization. Session V articulates some principles and practices through which the Canadian tax system can be rendered consistent with domestic priorities on the one hand and challenges of economic integration and the increased information content of GDP on the other. In light of the introduction of the EURO as the common European Currency, session VI assesses the pros and cons of a Canada/US common currency. The final session grapples with the on-going Canadian policy challenge relating to the future evolution of the Canadian financial system. An integrative assessment of the conference proceedings rounds out this timely volume.