Monthly Archives: June 2006
Canada’s dark anti-matter
The IMF released its annual report on the Canadian economy the other day. Nothing very much to report, which is understandable: the economy is operating at capacity, inflation is low and stable, and the government has been running a surplus for almost a decade now. There was an interesting tidbit in their forecasts: thanks to […]
Equity and Quebec’s daycare program
One of the Conservatives' election campaign promises was to provide financial support to parents directly, to the tune of $1,200 per child. Progressive-minded commentators have condemned this policy in no uncertain terms; their preferred model runs more along the lines of the Quebec government's $7/day (formerly $5/day) program. Maybe it shouldn't. At the meetings of […]
Factor shares: Cobb-Douglas vs Stolper-Samuelson
Labour’s share of income in the US is at the low end of its usual range of variation: The long-run stability of this ratio plays an important role in macroeconomic modelling, namely the widespread use of the Cobb-Douglas functional form for production functions. Over the past 25 years, the ratio of (exports + imports)/GDP has […]
On the welfare benefits of the estate tax
Much recent discussion on the estate tax. How bad can it be if heirs and heiresses don’t fully appreciate their good fortune?
The Bank of Canada and the Fed face very different problems
Up until recently, the Bank of Canada and the Fed have pretty much followed similar paths. This is less a case of the Bank slavishly following the Fed’s lead than the fact that they’ve been generally facing similar policy challenges. But this cycle seems to be quite different.
Stanford watch: Let’s bring back mercantilism!
In today’s Globe and Mail, Jim Stanford is upset with plans to liberalise trade between Canada and South Korea. He thinks it’s a bad idea because Canada has a trade deficit with South Korea: Mr. Harper, the double-double set thinks your idea tanks: …There’s one federal initiative elbowing its way onto the political radar screen, […]
Average and median earnings
Daniel Gross’ NYT column (h/t to New Economist) makes the oft-repeated point that an increase in average incomes doesn’t necessarily mean that most people are better off; it could also mean that the distribution of incomes is getting more unequal. Canada’s been seeing some positive employment and wage data, recently. But is it just a […]
Oil prices and the Canadian dollar: A mystery solved
In an earlier post, I noted that the relationship between the CAD-USD exchange rate and oil prices hasn’t always strong as it has apparently been over the past few years. Since I hadn’t been able to sort this problem out on my own, I went into last weekend’s session on this topic organised by the […]
My first job, my first publication
There’s been some discussion recently about the importance of a freshly-minted academic’s first job. My first job was a non-tenure-track appointment at the University of Western Ontario, and I was glad to get it: academic jobs were scarce then, and UWO is a good school. The job also made it possible to spend more time […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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