Monthly Archives: April 2010
Frances Woolley, Carleton University
I’m a professor of economics at Carleton University. My main areas of research are families, gender, labour and public policy. More information on my publications and a c.v. can be found on my website.
Mike Moffatt, Ivey School of Business
I’m a lecturer in the Business, Economics and Public Policy (BEPP) group at the Richard Ivey School of Business and the co-owner and co-founder of Nexreg Compliance Inc., a consulting firm that specializes in environmental and health safety law. From 2002 to 2010 I was the Economics Guide at About.com.
Frances Woolley joins Worthwhile Canadian Initiative
Regular readers will have noticed that in addition to contributing in the comments, Carleton University's Frances Woolley has written some very fine posts on her own (here and here). So it is with great pleasure that we announce that Frances has agreed to be a regular contributing blogger in her own right at WCI. Her […]
What makes charities special?
Tax systems reflect values. Because most people think charity is a good thing, registered charities enjoy tax privileges. Donations to charity generate tax credits – representing about $2.8 billion in forgone federal revenue in 2009. Charities don’t pay corporate income tax, and receive special GST treatment. Any time the income tax act draws a line, […]
A question for Modern Monetary Theorists
What, in your opinion, is the shape of the Long Run Phillips Curve? Supplementary: if you use the words "full-employment" in your answer, can you do your best to explain what you mean by this. (This is not a "gotcha!" question. I know that's a tall order, because it's not always easy to come up […]
On the meme of the ‘surprisingly short and mild recession’
Two – count 'em – two opinion pieces today in which people pronounce them astounded at how the Not-So-Great-After-All Recession played out: Économie: le syndrome A(H1N1): Une analyse récente de la récession, dans le dernier numéro de l'Observateur économique de Statistique Canada, montre à quel point économistes, politiciens et médias se sont mis le doigt […]
The Euro money supply
I agree with Ambrose Evans-Pritchard and Jacques Cailloux. It's what I was trying to say yesterday. And on Thursday. It's probably gotten too big for Germany, France, the IMF, whoever, to fix. Only the European Central Bank has enough money to fix the Eurozone problem; because it can print it. What's ironic is that what […]
The Holy Roman Eurozone
I started writing this post yesterday. It's already out of date. This is what I wrote yesterday; I will continue the post below. Greece has now gone, at least in expected value terms. With bond yields increased to over 13% today, there is no way I can see Greece running a primary surplus big enough […]
A public finance vignette
Here's a short story, simple but true, that illustrates a lot of public finance: from public choice to Ricardian Equivalence. I live on a cul de sac. Many of my neighbours wanted our gravel road paved, and were prepared to pay for it. The municipality held a neighbourhood referendum, and the motion passed by more […]
The private and public costs and benefits of post-secondary education
It's handy – if not entirely accurate – to think of the decision to go to university as being one in which the costs and benefits of post-secondary education are weighed. Since governments control or influence many of the key factors in this decision, this is a convenient framework for policy-makers. But a similar exercise […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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