This Can't Go On – So It Will Stop

Abstract

The current global economic policy regime – the consensus macroeconomic management policy framework, the trade and investment regime, the emerging system of “megaregulation” that seeks to create a seamless framework for the global operations of multinational enterprises, and the international monetary/capital flows regime – has taken us outside the feasible space for social and political stability, not to mention environmental sustainability. To paraphrase Stein’s Law, this can’t go on – so it will stop. This note comments on the features of the economic policy regime that have led to this outcome and suggests how Canada should navigate the potentially turbulent transition to come.