Monthly Archives: September 2012
The unbearable richness of biscuits
Last summer I picked up an old, well-thumbed, Magic Baking Powder Cookbook. Judging by the cover, and the inclusion of recipes that "won first prize at the 1931 Canadian National Exhibition", I would guess that the recipes in the book date from the 1930s or 40s.
Goodbye carbon taxes, hello atmospheric user fees
Economists (at least those who believe in global warming) frequently argue that the best way to discourage overuse of fossil fuels is with a carbon tax. A carbon tax reflects unpriced, external or social costs; the environmental damage created by fuel consumption. With a carbon tax in place, people will only consume fuel if the benefits […]
Should 888 Richmond Way pay higher property taxes than 13 Deadman Road?
In Canada, property taxes are typically based on "market value assessment". The assessment is arrived at by gathering information, for as many properties as possible, on: observable characteristics such as lot size, age and size of the home, number of bathrooms, proximity to parks and the city centre and selling prices estimating a relationship between […]
The Cambridge Capital Debate: my very short version
Warning: this is very much not my area. I don't do micro/GE theory. I was reading a bit of this stuff over 30 years ago, and then moved on to other things. If somebody asked me: "So Nick, what was all that about?", this is what I would say. Take it in the spirit of […]
Why Medicare Vouchers Are Inefficient
The little-known microeconomics textbook Zowning and Bupan does an excellent job of presenting the case against medicare vouchers:
Resources and the Economic Future
Well, it was one of those interesting coincidences. Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver unveiled new figures generated by Natural Resources Canada that apparently demonstrate that natural resources account for almost 20 percent of economic activity in Canada.
Goldpunk, strategy space, and Michael Woodford
On the one hand: it's very good news that Michael Woodford has endorsed NGDP level path targeting (pdf). (For non-economists, Michael Woodford is the most influential living academic monetary economist; he's the one who wrote the book that defines how graduate students think about monetary policy.) On the other hand: I'm going to rain on […]
What’s Up with Carney & Flaherty?
Well, I’m still sifting through my thoughts trying to exactly understand what was behind the corporate “dead money” debate last week. After a speech to the Canadian Auto Workers, Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney drew attention to the rising amounts of cash in the bank accounts of Canadian firms and commented to the effect […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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