Monthly Archives: May 2015
3 practical things, and one abstract thing economists could do to improve economic coverage in the media
This was written by CBC Radio's Matthew Lazin-Ryder 1. Pitch better stories Frances Woolley rightly states that Canadian journalists put a disproportionate amount of our time into following up on Stats Can reports, OECD reports, and think-tank publications. The primary reason is simplicity. Virtually any of the talking heads in our rolodexes can say something […]
The Best and Worst Tax Measures of Budget 2015
The 2015 federal budget is intended to be "a balanced budget, low tax plan for jobs, growth and security." US experience shows that low taxes are no guarantee of jobs and growth. In fact, a recent study by the IMF found equality matters more for growth than low taxes. I quote: "lower net inequality is […]
Fiscal Policy, the Eurozone, and Ontario under Bob Rae
This post is mostly questions, not answers. I am hoping the commenters will write this post for me. Because I don't have a comparative advantage at this sort of thing. [BTW, JP Koning has an excellent post, much better than this, drawing a parallel between Greece's proposed and Alberta's 1936 parallel currency.]
Four practical things journalists could do to improve economics coverage in the media
1. Find better stories. The Canadian media does a pretty good job of covering Statistics Canada and OECD news releases, and think tank reports. Where they lag behind the US is in coverage of academic research. Take, for example, a paper published in Canadian Public Policy last year by Luc Godbout, Yves Trudel and Suzie […]
How (some) Canadian academic economists learned to love the media
The following are notes for a panel discussion with Andrew Coyne, Tavia Grant, Kristina Partsinevelos, Chris Ragan and Chris Waddell, organized together with Stephen Gordon, at the CEA meetings at Ryerson University on Saturday, May 30th. Program information here. Registration info here. Media info here. At the 2007 Canadian Economics Association meetings, there was a […]
What the non-lunatic right believes about macroeconomic policy
[Well, I like to think I'm a non-lunatic, when I'm having a good day. But I might be speaking only for myself.] Brad DeLong (a card-carrying member of the non-lunatic left) says: "The non-lunatic right holds that market economies are indeed macroeconomically unstable but they can be balanced by minimal interventions in aggregate variables: that […]
The Growth of the Local Public Sector
The rising expense of local government services is increasingly capturing the attention of pundits and policy makers alike. The rising cost of policing and fire services in particular and their effects on local budgets and ratepayers, has drawn the attention of Canadian municipal leaders. What is also interesting is the overall growth in local government […]
Fiscal shocks as relative demand shocks
Take a macro model of an economy with two different goods being produced; call them Carrots and Grapes (there can be many different varieties of carrots, and many different varieties of grapes, if you like). Suppose the demand for grapes falls, because of a change in preferences. Will there be an equal and offsetting increase […]
Consuming wealth without spending a dime
"It is a great comfort to have you so rich" - Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice. Stripped down to the barest essentials, taxation works like this: taxes owing = tax rate * tax base + lump sum taxes – income guarantees and tax credits. The appropriate tax base, rate and income guarantee are the three fundamental […]
Unbundling the BA
The most useful university courses and degrees are the hardest to get into. For example, most people would benefit from knowing something about accounting. But do universities facilitate the study of accounting? No. Everywhere admission into Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Business Administration programs is restricted. It's the interests of business schools to turn […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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