Monthly Archives: October 2008
An open letter to the leaders of Canada’s federal political parties from economists teaching in Canadian colleges and universities
The press release and the list of signatories (more than 230 and counting) are over here. Here's the letter: One of the few issues on which most economists agree is the need for public policy to protect the environment. Why so much agreement? Because in the absence of policy, individuals generally don’t take the environmental […]
Some thoughts on the bubble/s and financial crisis/es
Nick Rowe provides us with some talking points on how we all got into this mess: I am taking part in a roundtable on the financial crisis next week at Carleton (Wednesday 8 October 5.30-7.00 in 360 Tory, just in case anyone is interested in attending). The audience and other panel members will be mostly […]
The Basil Fawlty theory of corporate taxes
Fawlty Towers is one of the best television shows ever. It ran for 12 episodes, and each is a highly-polished gem. One of my favourites is the episode ‘Gourmet Night’, in which Basil Fawlty – the incomparable John Cleese – tries to increase the tone of his run-down hotel. At a crucial point, Basil’s car […]
What are we, chopped liver?
From Stéphane Dion's 5-point Action Plan for dealing with the economy: 2. Convene a meeting of leading independent private sector economists to report on the state of the economy and assess both domestic and international trends for the coming year. Emphasis added. Memo to the Liberal Party of Canada: there are quite a few talented […]
“Canada is not the United States”
Stephen Harper has taken a certain amount of flak for saying that phrase. But let's think about it: would it have been better if he had said 'Canada is the United States'? So let's go through the inventory. Today's data for automobile sales in September: Canadian vehicle sales nudge higher in September. Canadians bought more […]
Nick Rowe on the outlook for Canada’s housing market
Carleton University's Nick Rowe left a comment in a previous post that deserves a wider readership. With his permission, I'm recycling it as a guest post: I am less optimistic than you, though I don't think it will be as bad here. But I wish I had better evidence for my belief/hope.House prices in many […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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