Canada's Economy, Explained
Canada's Economy, Explained
Podcast Description
Canada's Economy, Explained: The Business Data Lab Podcast is an initiative of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce hosted by Senior Research Director Marwa Abdou. Designed for business owners, decision-makers, and curious listeners, this podcast delivers real-time data, expert analysis, and actionable insights on workforce trends, economic conditions, and more.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast focuses on economic trends, workforce data, and productivity challenges, with episodes like Canada’s Productivity — An Emergency 40 Years in the Making addressing low labor productivity ranks among G7 countries and Economic Outlook 2025 discussing the implications of inflation and labor disruptions. Key content areas include technological impacts on productivity, forecasts for economic conditions, and strategic insights for businesses navigating current challenges.
Canada’s Economy, Explained is the official podcast of the Business Data Lab at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, hosted by Senior Research Director Marwa Abdou.
Whether you’re a business leader, policymaker, or simply curious about the forces shaping our economy, this podcast brings you real-time data, sharp analysis, and conversations that matter. From workforce trends and inflation to trade, innovation, and inclusion, we unpack the stories behind the stats — with leading economists, industry voices, and fresh perspectives.
Timely. Insightful. Unfiltered. This is where Canada’s economy gets explained.
In this episode of Canada’s Economy, Explained, host Marwa Abdou sits down with Avi Goldfarb—Rotman Chair in Artificial Intelligence and Healthcare at the University of Toronto, and co-author of Prediction Machines and Power and Prediction.
Goldfarb is one of the world’s leading economists on the business implications of AI. Together, they examine why Canada, despite its early leadership in AI research, is lagging in adoption. Goldfarb explains that AI’s real power isn’t automation—it’s prediction. And while Canada has outstanding academic talent and AI research hubs, it hasn’t yet translated that strength into broad commercial or public-sector impact. “We’re still figuring out what the organization of the future looks like,” he says in the episode, while cautioning that hesitation gives global competitors time to scale. They explore the economic promise of AI in healthcare, education, and public services, as well as the risks of overregulation, particularly with laws like Bill C-27. Goldfarb offers a clear message: Canada must act now or risk falling behind.
Links:
– Prediction Machines: The Simple Economics of Artificial Intelligence (2018)
– Power and Prediction: The Disruptive Economics of Artificial Intelligence (2022)
– Machine Intelligence and Human Judgment (IMF – June 2025)
Other Resources:
– Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence by Paul Scharre
– The Work of the Future: Building Better Jobs in an Age of Intelligent Machines by David Autor, David A. Mindell and Elisabeth B. Reynolds
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