Monthly Archives: August 2009
Economic policy advice for the NDP, Part VI: Climate change
The NDP has traditionally had a certain amount of credibility in its concern for environmental issues, and it can fairly fairly credited for dragging many environmental issues to to the political forefront. But that's not the same thing as being able to come up with sensible policy prescriptions to deal with the problems it identifies. […]
Canada’s Black Shift
This chart is from The Economist: There is only one country (thanks to sharper-eyed Frances in the comments) are only two countries in this list that have reduced gasoline taxes in the last ten years. Okay, the units are measured in euro cents, and the CAD depreciated slightly against the euro over this period. But […]
Possibly the most extravagant compliment that I’ve ever been paid
The National Post's Full Comment section occasionally links to us. (No, we don't get paid for this; they follow the usual blog convention of copying a couple of paragraphs and sending readers here for the full article. Everyone is free to do so.) My post Economic policy advice for the NDP, Part III: The GST […]
What is the problem that EI reform is supposed to solve?
If asked, people might say something along the lines of this Toronto Star editorial: The rolls of the unemployed in Canada continue to grow… Many or most of them won't be eligible for employment insurance (EI), due to the program's Byzantine eligibility requirements. Very alarming – especially that word "most". But how do we know […]
Economic policy advice for the NDP, Part V: Give money to low-income households
Here is what I would like some staffer to ask next time NDP strategists are kicking around ideas for goods to subsidise or services that governments to provide at a discount in order to advance their agenda of reducing poverty and inequality: "Why don't we just give low-income households money and let them spend it […]
US travel to Canada and the exchange rate: A textbook case
Via Megan McArdle, I learn that Kevin Drum is puzzled by the drop in day trips by Americans to Canada. Megan is quite right; the exchange rate is the explanation. I've been teaching from the French translation of Krugman and Obstfeld's International Economics. Unfortunately, it was translated for the European market, so all the examples […]
Economic policy advice for the NDP, Part IV: Corporate income taxes
Here is my first recommendation to the NDP on corporate income taxes: accept the fact that previous NDP positions have been – to put it kindly – painfully amateurish and should be discreetly tossed into the Dumpster of Disavowed Doctrines. It's tabula rasa time, and the long path back to reality-based policy starts below the […]
Economic policy advice for the NDP, Part III: The GST
The NDP has never been a fan of the GST, and persuading Canadian progressives of its merits is a never-ending variation on the theme of "but these go to eleven:" Progressive Person: How do we raise the tax revenues we need for the social programs we want to implement without tanking the economy?Economist: Consumption taxes. […]
The grain of truth in the Junker Fallacy
I saw an example of the Junker Fallacy recently (it doesn't matter where). You have probably seen it too somewhere. "Investment is low because people (or firms) spend all their savings on speculation rather than investment — bidding up the price of houses, shares, land, or in corporate takeovers; there is no money left over […]
Economic policy advice for the NDP, Part II: Defending big government
A while ago, there was a spurt of articles bemoaning the 'out-of-control' spending of the federal government, making the point that federal spending has been outpacing the rate of growth of GDP over the past five years. We are presumably expected to believe that future federal governments will be obliged by the inexorable logic of […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
Recent Comments