Monthly Archives: January 2012
Morals? Can’t afford them.
Noahpinion, Tyler Cowen and others have recently posted about the deserving poor.
Looking for an Example of Price-Elasticity of Demand?
The application results for UK universities in the wake of a tripling of tuition fees are in and they show a drop in applications. The limit on tuition fees in September 2012 is projected to rise to up to 9,000 pounds per year up from about 3,350 pounds for an increase of about 169 percent. […]
Fiscal Policy, and the macroeconomics of doing nothing, redux
I don't think Simon Wren-Lewis will find this an annoying argument against fiscal policy. I hope not anyway. Let's assume that New Keynesian macroeconomics is 100% correct. What role is there for fiscal policy?
The Balance of the Federation
The Canadian Federation is an institutional arrangement whereby the constituent units are able to both cooperate and compete with jurisdictions that are both separate and coordinate. The debate over the respective roles of the federal and provincial governments has taken various forms over time with views that emphasize the centrality of the federal government along […]
Raising the pension age: not if, but when.
It is not a question of if: Canada will, eventually, raise the age at which people are entitled to claim Guaranteed Income Supplement and Old Age Security. The US is raising its full retirement age, the UK is raising its state pension age. We'll raise our pension age for the same reason that they raised […]
The federal deficit is shrinking
The last few releases of the Fiscal Monitor show that the federal deficit is finally starting to shrink appreciably.
The politics of NGDPLP targeting, redux
Back in November 2011, there was a part of the world that I didn't understand. The politics of monetary policy didn't make sense to me. Now the world is starting to make more sense. It's not that my understanding has changed. It's the world that has begun to change. Specifically, John Quiggin has come out […]
The efficiency case for nepotism
A firm wanting to invest in a worker, to train her and give her valuable skills, runs a risk: what if she leaves, and takes her valuable human capital elsewhere? A firm can induce its employees to stay through deferred compensation. It pays new employees less than their productivity merits, and senior employees more. The […]
Manufacturing, Technology, Canada and the Dollar.
This week the Ottawa Citzen published my op ed on the impact of technological growth on manufacturing: Where the jobs went. Jim Stanford of the CAW responded with: The real job killers, also published in the Citizen. A couple of points I would like to respond to:
Robert Waldmann (and others) on Dean Baker (and hence Paul Krugman) and the burden of the debt on future generations
Robert Waldmann here. Bob Murphy here. Richard Williamson here. I've done my bit, and have failed. Robert Waldmann may succeed. If Robert Waldmann fails too, that would be very bad for the credibility of economics blogging.
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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