Saul Schwartz

B.Sc. Economics (University of Wisconsin)
Ph.D. Economics (University of Wisconsin)
Improving the economic position of low-income people has been a consistent interest over the years. Recently, my focus has been on efforts to help low-income debtors resolve their debt problems. That resolution might come through a new low-cost bankruptcy procedure, through impartial debt advice or through automatic enrolment in benefit programs. Dealing with the debts of the elderly is an important part of this work, given the increasing debts that the elderly carry. A related interest is illustrated by a book of essays that I’m editing on the personal debts that citizens owe to governments: criminal justice fines and fees, local taxes and student loans. With an international cast of authors, this will the first book to bring together papers analyzing a range of debts owed to government. I continue to work, with Jennifer Robson, on tax filing. In our paper that won the 2020 Vandercamp Prize for the best paper in Canadian Public Policy, we argued that having the Canada Revenue Agency fill out tax returns for Canadians (i.e., “deemed filing”) is the best way to ensure that those who are eligible to receive benefits through the tax system actually receive them.

• Schwartz, S. (2022). Oppressed by debt government and the justice system as a creditor of the poor. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

• Spooner, J. & Schwartz, S. (2025). The Local Injustice of Bankruptcy: Geographical Variation in Access to Debt Relief in England, Journal of Law and Society, 52(4), 606-627. https://doi.org/10.1111/jols.70030
• Schwartz, S & Ben-Ishai, S. (2025). Tilting the Playing Field Away from the Discharge of Debts: The Case of Consumer Proposals in Canada, Canadian Public Policy, 51(2), 165-190. 10.3138/cpp.2024-04. https://doi.org/10.3138/cpp.2024-041
• Genest-Grégoire, A., Robson J., Schwartz, S. & Dadjo, J. (2024). What Proportion of Tax Returns Could the Canada Revenue Agency Complete?, Canadian Public Policy, 50(3), 292-310. https://doi.org/10.3138/cpp.2023-016
• Ben-Ishai, S. & Schwartz, S. (2023). Prevalence of High-Cost Loans among the Debts of Canadian Insolvency Filers. Canadian Public Policy, 49(1), 62-75. https://doi.org/10.3138/cpp.2022-057
• Varughese, A., Schwartz, S. & Sheen, N. (2022). ‘Sitting with myself by myself’: Indian students in Canada, Comparative and International Education, 51(1), 57-74. https://doi.org/10.5206/cieeci.v51i1.14226
• Neill, C. & Schwartz, S. (2022). Five Reasons to be Skeptical about the Repayment of Canada’s Student Loans through the Tax System, Canadian Tax Journal, 70(3), 627-642. https://doi.org/10.32721/ctj.2022.70.3.pf.neill.schwartz
• Ben-Ishai, S., Schwartz, S., Butt, A. & Linton, M. (2021). Bankruptcy Lessons for Payday Lending Regulation”, University of New Brunswick Law Journal, 72, 173-209.
• Robson, J. & Schwartz, S. (2021). Should the Canada Revenue Agency Also Be a Social Benefits Agency?, Canadian Tax Journal, 69(1), 87-98. https://doi.org/10.32721/ctj.2021.69.1.pf.robson
• Allen, B., Hudon, P. & Schwartz, S. (2021) Guest editors’ introduction to the special issue on procurement and public policy. Canadian Public Administration. https://doi.org/10.1111/capa.12416
• Robson, J. & Schwartz, S. (2020). Who Doesn’t File a Tax Return?: A Portrait of Non-Filers, Canadian Public Policy, 46(3), 323-349. https://doi.org/10.3138/cpp.2019-063
• Lysenko, D., Schwartz, E. & Schwartz, S. (2020). Short-Term Effects of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement on Municipal Procurement. Canadian Public Policy, 46(2), 264-278. https://doi.org/10.3138/cpp.2019-042
• Schwartz, S. & Ben-Ishai, S. (2020). Establishing the Need for a Low-Cost Canadian Debt Relief Procedure, International Insolvency Review, 29(S1), S25-S43. https://doi.org/10.1002/iir.1358

• Schwartz, E., & Schwartz, S. (2022). Is CETA a major threat to municipal autonomy? In R. Finbow (Ed.), CETA implementation and implications: Unravelling the puzzle. McGill-Queen’s University Press.

• There are better ways to help student loan borrowers than zero-interest loans (Finances of the Nation, Sep 2021)
• A simple, low-cost bankruptcy option for Canada’s insolvency system (Policy Options, May 2020)
• Dear Canada Revenue Agency, Please File My Taxes For Me! (First Policy Response, Apr 2020)