Monthly Archives: July 2010
“Blame Stats Canada!”
This is interesting: [Industry Minister Tony Clement] added that he took the privacy concerns to Statistics Canada and asked they be incorporated into the next census. “They gave me options and we chose one of those options,” he said. “This is a methodology that Statistics Canada offered to us and if it's good enough for […]
Tony Clement makes a statement – perhaps not the one he intended.
There have been occasions over the past couple of weeks where I've regretted the somewhat combative tone of my first census post. One of those times was this morning, reading Bill Robson's mild rebuke of the decision to make the long form voluntary. He suggests that critics might do better to try to engage the […]
Is there any point in saving?
A recent report prepared for the Department of Finance by Keith Horner came to a optimistic conclusion about Canadians' savings levels: Overall, it appears that about 69% of Canadian households saved in RPPs and RRSPs at rates sufficient to fully maintain their consumption levels in retirement (100% replacement rate). About 78% of households met a […]
Sticky Prices, Oil Prices and Grocery Prices
Nick Rowe asks: “I want to know why some prices seem to be stickier than others, and why some prices don’t seem to be sticky at all. If I understood why customers liked sticky prices, this should help me understand these differences in price stickiness. Perhaps customers for crude oil are different from customers for […]
What would count as a satisfactory explanation of sticky prices?
Richard Serlin, in a comment on a Stephen Williamson post, explains why he thinks prices are sticky. What Richard says sounds plausible. And it's based on his real-world experience. He may very well be right. But it doesn't constitute a satisfactory explanation of sticky prices, in my eyes. I'm really just using Richard as an […]
The effect of expected future taxes on current investment: how big?
If the government runs a fiscal deficit now, that may mean that future taxes increase. The expectation of those future taxes may reduce the expected after-tax marginal return to current investment. That may reduce current investment, and may offset some of the effects of the fiscal deficit on aggregate demand. This mechanism for crowding out […]
A letter from the Canadian Economics Association to Industry Minister Tony Clement
This is the text of a letter sent to Industry Minister Tony Clement on behalf of the Executive Council of the Canadian Economics Association. The CEA Executive is asking members who wish to register their disapproval of the decision to make the 2011 census long form voluntary are asked to sign the electronic petition at […]
Why isn’t the real world more like Disneyland?
Sometimes I wish the real world was more like Disneyland. Free, reliable, public transit. No litter. No poverty. A place where you can walk anywhere you want to go. Where there are no Wal-marts, and small stores on Main Street thrive and prosper. Where Hollywood still has beautiful art deco buildings, but the tattoo parlours […]
HST and jobs: more studies in applied orthogonality
Some economic policy debates are about jobs. Most aren't about jobs, or shouldn't be. But far too many of them end up being about jobs, even though the policies have nothing to do with jobs. Frances once explained the advantages of the HST to me. (Note for non-Canadians: the Harmonised Sales Tax replaces a provincial […]
The Labour Force Survey is “coercive”. Are its days numbered as well?
Today's employment release will no doubt generate many headlines and not a certain amount of bragging by the government. I think almost everyone would agree that these are important data to collect and to publish. But where do they come from? The answer is the Labour Force Survey, and here is how it works: Some […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
Recent Comments