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.
