Monthly Archives: August 2010
Economics and the art of automobile maintenance
I've been taking a mental health break from economics. I've been buying and fixing up a 1994 Mazda MX6. It's nearly fixed up now. And so am I. So here's a light Summer post. Why do some people fix their own cars?
Adultery and Income Inequality
Why would any woman choose to have a relationship with married man? If all men were equal, being a married man's mistress would never make economic sense: why share with another woman when you can have a man to yourself? But if some men are vastly better off than others, a one-night stand with Tiger […]
Approaching the end of the Canadian recovery: Time to worry about productivity
After a decent string of strong numbers, the most recent data releases are pretty tepid. It would appear that the days of recovery are coming to an end.
Clementonomics
Toronto Star: “Industry Minister Tony Clement says opponents of the Conservatives’ decision on the census are just whining because they once had a “good deal” to get information they needed while letting Ottawa force citizens to supply the data.” Let’s suppose you owned a bakery and you believed your bread prices were too low for […]
Geneology and the census
Historical censuses from around the world are available on-line at sites like http://ancestry.ca or http://www.findmypast.co.uk. A few hours spent looking up old family records made history come alive for me.
The census and libertarians, bis
I've vowed to bang this drum as loud as I can for as long as I can, so here I go again. I even have some pointed advice for libertarians who still insist on regurgitating the government's party line.
Canadian public policy: all-time greatest hits.
I'm a sucker for lists. So here's a list of the most-accessed articles from the journal Canadian Public Policy in the JStor archive in 2009.
What were they thinking? One view
This post was written by Simon van Norden of HEC-Montréal. Krugman on Sunday bemoaned the thinking at the US Fed, writing So I just read the latest speech from Richard Fisher of the Dallas Fed; it’s one of the most depressing things I’ve read lately, and given what I read that’s saying a lot. Much […]
The economics of tax incidence: paying the tax is not the same as bearing the burden
One of the more important things that distinguishes economists from non-economists is a familiarity with the notion of tax incidence. The statutory incidence of a tax (who sends the cheque to the Receiver-General?) is usually very different from its economic incidence (who is out of pocket?). The basic intuition is simple enough. We all understand […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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