Monthly Archives: September 2010
Building F-35s in Southey, SK
A must read by Andrew Coyne – Of jobs and jets. The whole "Build the F-35s in Canada to keep jobs" arguments misses two key points: Jobs are a cost, not a benefit. Unless we're going to be given the jets for free (unlikely), we will need to work to obtain the jets, no matter […]
The experts weigh in: Four very good commentaries on the census in Canadian Public Policy
The September 2010 issue of Canadian Public Policy has four articles on the census debacle, and they are all very much worth reading. As academic publishing goes, this is a lightening-quick response to a decision that was announced less than three months ago. I strongly encourage you to read them for yourselves: they are relatively […]
Every click counts
Every time a student or researcher clicks his mouse, he is appraising scholarship – is it worth viewing? downloading? The information generated by on-line activity is gathered by university libraries, publishers, and a host of other users. Repec, for example, collects file view and download statistics, and uses them to rank authors.
Will a voluntary census be more truthful?
From my inbox: [O]ne of my colleagues insists that he does not know of any way to correct for biases in mandatory surveys from outright lying or refusal to answer (in spite of any penalties for doing so), and I had to admit I didn't really know either. Can one easily detect fabricated or implausible […]
Hayek, Keynes, Hicks, money, and New Keynesian macroeconomics
Hayek said that individuals make current plans for future actions based on their expectations of the future actions of others. And others might be planning to do something different from what you expect them to do. And economists need to look at what happens when those plans and expectations are not mutually consistent, and look […]
Remembering the ballentine
Peter Kennedy passed away suddenly on August 30, after a bicycle ride and swim near his Whistler home. He was the best teacher. His ability to remember students' names was legendary. He did it by association "I remembered your name was Peter because you have a red coat, and my hair is red and my […]
The Bank of Canada and the Fed: rules vs. discretion
I just can't get interested in the Bank of Canada right now. I can only think about the Fed. The Bank of Canada is just too boring. Which it should be.
On the benefits of full-day kindergarten
This post was written by Kevin Milligan of the Department of Economics at the University of British Columbia. There was a flurry of media coverage earlier this week on the full day kindergarten programs that are being rolled out in BC, Ontario, and PEI. I am here to expand a bit on some of the […]
Do women promote women?
It's tenure and promotion time. In universities across the country, assistant professors are preparing their files, bundling together every article they have ever published. The files are sent out to external reviewers, experts in the candidate's field, whose carefully worded letters can make or break young academics' careers. Every year I am asked to do […]
The Globe and Mail Confirms Two Recent Points of Discussion
Been away for the past week or so fighting the flu. Hoping to come back to regular blogging soon. In the meantime, two interesting stories from the Globe: Government study reveals significant errors in voluntary census In another example from the report, the real 2006 long-form census found that visible minorities as a share of […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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