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.

Brian K. MacLean's profile page

LARS OSBERG is a Professor of Economics at Dalhousie University with research interests in labour economics and income and wealth distribution. He received his PhD in Economics from Yale University and has published numerous articles in academic journals and seven books, including Lorimer's Unnecessary Debts, co-edited with Pierre Fortin. He is a past President of the Canadian Economics Association.

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"A critical assessment of the zero-inflation policy pursued by the Bank of Canada, The Unemployment Crisis is an important contribution to the debate since most of the published economic policy discussion continues to support the zero-inflation goal. Unquestioning support for this objective in the face of widespread unemployment cannot be healthy and the essays in this volume will make readers think twice about pursuing a zero-inflation objective in the future." Wayne Simpson, Department of Economics, University of Manitoba.