Monthly Archives: February 2007
Another productivity slowdown
Although employment growth continued to be respectable through 2006, output growth slowed – signifying yet another reduction in productivity growth: Statscan’s Philip Cross tries to figure out why (22-page pdf), paying special attention to sectoral and regional factors: Last year’s drop in mining productivity was part of a long-term downward trend. The declining productivity of […]
Economics and climatology: Why perfect markets are like a dishpan
Brian Ferguson at A Canadian Econoview makes an interesting point: Ever wonder why so many economists are sceptical about man-made global warming? It’s because we’ve had a lot of humbling experience with just how quickly large scale computer models can go very badly wrong. Remember when we had inflation and unemployment under control through Keynesian […]
Increasing tuition subsidies is a regressive policy
It’s budget season at the federal and provincial levels, and in its ongoing campaign to improve access to post-secondary education (PSE), the Canadian Federation of Students is campaigning for reduced tuition fees, and is taking to the streets to make its opinion known. Given what we know about this issue, it’s pretty clear that the […]
Some facts about tuition and access to post-secondary education
The issue of tuition fees and access to post-secondary education is one that keeps popping up, and it’s one that is often a source of frustration to me. One problem is that the basic facts are not well-known. And many of the factoids that have made it into popular circulation are either taken out of […]
The price of Kyoto
A voting majority of the House of Commons has passed a resolution calling upon the government to "honour the principles and targets of the Kyoto Protocol in their entirety". Now, we already know that Canada cannot and will not reach its target for greenhouse gas emissions. If we go by the – admittedly questionable – […]
The fallacy of composition: Canadian economy edition
For some inexplicable reason, the Globe and Mail decides that valuable space should be devoted to the musings of a US-based consultant: Where would Canada be without sizzling Alberta? Stalled without it, U.S. economist says: Alberta’s sizzling economy is keeping all of Canada from burning out, reckons one U.S.-based economist. Carl Weinberg, chief economist at […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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