Slower Economic Growth and Subjective Well-Being in the Canadian Context: A Discussion Paper

Mike Pennock

No 2016-09, CSLS Research Reports from Centre for the Study of Living Standards

Abstract: Most mainstream forecasts for national economies expect that mature nations such as Canada will experience a few decades of slower economic growth, relative to past rates. This was reflected in the recent long-term forecast for the Canadian economy by the Centre for the Study of Living Standards. This transition is due to underlying demographic factors which are slowing labour force growth as well as slower rates of labour force productivity. Although there is a consensus among forecasters about the inevitability of slower growth there is less consensus about the magnitude of the change. This model suggests that countries such as Canada could enter into a prolonged period of slower growth without pronounced negative consequences for population well-being if other contributors to well-being are both protected and mobilized to offset the impacts of slower income growth. The most serious threat to wellbeing that is associated with the slow-growth scenario is an expected increase in income inequality and household debt. Canada may be particularly vulnerable to these effects because it is entering a slow growth era with relatively high levels of inequality and household debt, relative to most other mature nations.

Keywords: Economic Growth; National Income; Household Income; Economic Development; Well-Being; Prosperity; Social Progress; Canada; Income Distribution; Income Inequality; Income Growth; Household Debt; Unemployment; Government Expenditures; 2008 Recession (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I31 N32 O10 O15 O16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-gro, nep-hap and nep-hpe
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.csls.ca/reports/csls2016-09.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sls:resrep:1609

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
http://www.csls.ca

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in CSLS Research Reports from Centre for the Study of Living Standards 170 Laurier Ave. W, Suite 604, Ottawa, ON K1P 5V5. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CSLS ( this e-mail address is bad, please contact ).