The Unemployment Crisis

High unemployment dominates the Canadian social reality of the 1990s. Lay-offs, cutbacks, and corporate downsizings during the 1990-93 recession created a pervasive economic insecurity that remains a problem. The Unemployment Crisis, a collection of essays based on the first annual economic policy conference held at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, explores the severity of the 1990-93 recession, the reasons for the crisis, and what governments can do today to make low unemployment a reality.

Arguing that the consequences of the unemployment crisis could have been avoided by better government policies, particularly less restrictive monetary control, the contributors examine the effect of the zero-inflation policy adopted by the Bank of Canada and the role of unemployment insurance on the unemployment crisis of recent years. Their analysis includes discussion of various facets of unemployment in France, Germany, and Japan for comparison.

Contents
Introduction - Brian K. MacLean and Lars Osberg Digging a Hole or Laying the Foundation? The Objectives of Macroeconomic Policy in Canada - Lars Osberg The Unbearable Lightness of Zero-Inflation Optimism - Pierre Fortin (UQAM) Real Interest Rates and Unemployment - John Smithin (York) Using the NAIRU as a Basis for Macroeconomic Policy: An Evaluation - Mark Setterfield (Trinity College) Does Unemployment Insurance Increase Unemployment? - Shelley Phipps (Dalhousie) Why Do We Know So Little About Unemployment Determination and UI Effects? - Tony Myatt (UNB) Unemployment Insurance and Unemployment - Revisited - Lars Osberg The Rise of Unemployment in Ontario - Andrew Sharpe (Centre for the Study of Living Standards) Unemployment among Canada's Aboriginal Peoples - Helmar Drost (York) Unemployment Persistence in France and Germany - Dominique Gross (Simon Fraser) Low Unemployment in Japan: The Product of Socio-economic Coherence - Patrice de Broucker (Statistics Canada) A Macroeconomic Policy Package for the 1990s - Mike McCracken (Informetrica).

Both critical of past performance and optimistic about future possibilities, The Unemployment Crisis makes a timely and valuable addition to current literature on economic policy.