Shows / The Missing Middle Podcast
The Missing Middle Podcast
Welcome to the Missing Middle, a podcast about why the middle class in Canada is disappearing. We hope to help you understand why life is becoming unaffordable for so many in this country, and what can be done to reverse course.
Episodes
- The Missing Middle Podcast
Alex Beheshti: What Happened to Ontario's Housing Ambition?
Guest: Alex Beheshti, Senior Consultant with Altus Group Economic Consulting specializing in urban planning policy analysis, municipal fee reviews, and fiscal…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
Why Trudeau is Bringing Back 30-Year Mortgages
In this conversation, economist Mike Moffatt and journalist Cara Stern discuss the federal government's new plan to help first-time homebuyers by extending…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
Everyone Wants Rentals, but No One Wants Landlords
In this discussion, economist Mike Moffatt and journalist Cara Stern about the great housing paradox: everyone wants landlords but no one wants landlords.Cara…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
Alex Bozikovic: Heritage Rules and the Housing Crisis
In this discussion, Mike Moffatt and Cara Stern discuss how heritage designation negatively impacts housing supply in Toronto. During this wide ranging…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
Ford, Fourplexes and the Free Market
In this discussion, Smart Prosperity Institute economist Mike Moffatt and journalist Cara Stern discuss the recent revelation by Ontario Premier Doug Ford that…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
Marc Miller: How The Immigration Minister Plans To Cut Immigration
In this discussion, Smart Prosperity Institute economist Mike Moffatt and journalist Cara Stern talk to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
David Coletto: Why Millennials Broke Up with Trudeau
In this discussion, Smart Prosperity Institute economist Mike Moffatt and journalist Cara Stern talk to Pollster David Coletto about the shifting priorities of…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
How Parking Minimums Hinder Home Construction
In this discussion, Smart Prosperity Institute economist Mike Moffatt and journalist Cara Stern discuss why parking minimums often require developers to…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
How to Build 5.8 Million Homes by 2030
In this discussion, Smart Prosperity Institute economist Mike Moffatt and journalist Cara Stern talk to Cherise Burda, Director of City Building Research and…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
How Central Banks Decide If Your Mortgage Goes Up
In this 22-minute discussion, Smart Prosperity Institute economist Mike Moffatt and journalist Cara Stern talk to Scott Cameron, an economist formerly with the…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
Inflation, Interest Rates, and the Role of the Bank of Canada
In this conversation, Mike Moffatt and Cara Stern discuss inflation and the Bank of Canada's approach to managing it. They explore the factors that contribute…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
Reece Martin: Canadians Pay Way Too Much to Build Transit
Smart Prosperity Institute economist Mike Moffatt and journalist Cara Stern talk to transit expert Reece Martin about the challenges and issues surrounding…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
How Does the Bank of Canada Affect Housing?
Smart Prosperity Institute economist Mike Moffatt and journalist Cara Stern talk to Armine Yalnizyan, economist and Atkinson Fellow On The Future Of Workers…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
How Should Economists Measure Happiness?
Because it’s a short week, instead of a full episode, we've got a short extra segment from our conversation with economist Armine Yalnizyan on whether GDP per…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
Justice Queen: From Accidental Landlord to Housing Advocate
In this episode of The Missing Middle Podcast journalist Cara Stern welcomes Shaista, a long-time Toronto and 905 real estate observer who provides wonderful…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
Is GDP Per Capita is a "Garbage Metric"?
A lot of people have been challenging the notion that GDP is a good measure of the economy. Instead, they suggest, we should look at GDP per capita to…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
Do Canada's Immigration Targets Make Sense?
Last week the federal government introduced a cap on international student visas. Going forward they will be distributed to the provinces on a per-capita…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
Soaring Rent and Low Vacancy in Canada's Latest Market Report
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) released its annual Rental Market Report last week. With the national vacancy rate hitting a historic low…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
How Colleges Broke Canadian Immigration
The Canadian federal government announced a 2-year cap on international student permits making for some big headlines last week. This will severely limit the…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
Sabrina Maddeaux: A Millennial Running to be a Conservative
Sabrina Maddeaux is a journalist and political commentator who announced that she’s seeking the Conservative nomination for Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill. In…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
The Three Types of Middle Class
Politicians, policy makers, and journalists all talk about the middle class and how well they are doing economically speaking. Middle-class voters make up the…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
Is a 10.5% Property Tax Increase Reasonable?
The city of Toronto is currently contemplating a significant property tax hike as part of its proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The move is…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
John Rapley: Is Canada's Economy in Decline?
Canada’s place in the global world order is shifting and according to the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD) Canada will be the…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
Trudeau Talks Capping International Student Visas
Yesterday was the first time Mike or Cara ever heard Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signalling that his government would work to cap the number of international…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
How Pre-Approved Home Designs Could Help Affordability
In a throwback to the post-war era, Trudeau's federal government is looking into creating a catalogue of pre-approved home designs that they hope will speed up…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
Why You Should Care About (and Understand) Bond Yields
Canadian bond yields have been fairly volatile in recent weeks...but what does that even mean, and why does it matter to anyone outside of the finance…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
How the BC Housing Minister is Going Big on Housing Supply
British Columbia's Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon joins Mike and Cara to talk about the big plans his government has to make it easier for developers to build…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
Trudeau Liberals' Fall Economic Statement Earns a C- Grade
Justin Trudeau's government released its Fall Economic Statement this week, introducing what Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland called meaty measures...and…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
Green Leader Mike Schreiner on Fixing Housing in Ontario
Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner joined Mike and Cara to talk about his two private member's bills that aim to increase housing supply, as well as how…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
Is Ontario Setting Up Cities to Fail Their Housing Targets?
The provincial government has set the target of 1.5 million homes in the province over a 10-year period. That involves major increases in the rate of…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
How Realistic is this Housing Plan Anyway?
The Ontario NDP and Olivia Chow both recently released their housing plans. They're both big budget projects, but with wildly different calculations in how…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
Are Development Charges Fair to Millennials and Gen Z?
A lot of politicians say that development charges are paid for out of the pockets of big developers, and save taxpayers from footing the bill for…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
Ontario Towns and Cities Debate Zoning for Multiplexes
When the Ontario government put together a Housing Affordability Task Force to advise them on housing policy, they got the advice to up-zone the whole province…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
How the Left and Right Approach Economics These Days
Since Mike Moffatt has advised Justin Trudeau, and Sean Speer has advised Stephen Harper, we thought it would be fun to get them in a (virtual) room together…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
How Universities and Colleges Make the Housing Crisis Worse
Mike's been talking for years about how Canada isn't considering international students in our immigration numbers. They all need places to live, so this…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
Doug Ford Puts Land Back in the Greenbelt
Sean Speer, editor-at-large for The Hub, joins Cara and Mike to analyze what it means that Doug Ford reversed his land swap, and put the newly rezoned land…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
We Need More Competition
Mike gives an overview of 15 Minute Cities, and why he has some worries about what impact they might have on the middle class.Then Vass Bednar joins them to…
- The Missing Middle Podcast
Things Really are Different Now!
Welcome to the Missing Middle, a new podcast about why the middle class in Canada is disappearing. We hope to help you understand why life is becoming…