Author Archives: wciecon
How to cope with an autistic economist
Mainstream economics is sometimes described as an autistic way of understanding the world, and prominent economists such as Scott Sumner have gone public with their autistic tendencies. The "autism" of an academic economist is so far away from the struggles of a head-banging, withdrawn, perseverating child it seems almost wrong to equate the two. Yet, as Tyler Cowen […]
When D-Day Comes, Then What?
On Wednesday, we shall see the unveiling of Don Drummond’s recommendations for the repairing of Ontario’s finances. Quite frankly, I was a little surprised that Drummond Day was not set for February 14th and advertised as a set of tough love policies to highlight the uncompromising bond between Ontario’s leaders and its people but I […]
The PBO Report on sustainability of benefits to the elderly
The Parliamentary Budget Office has released a Report (pdf) on the fiscal sustainability of benefits to the elderly. This is not my area. I don't have a lot to say on the subject. I want to say a couple of things.
The basic arithmetic of RRSPs and TFSAs
Financial advisors seem to be everywhere this time of year, pontificating about the merits of Registered Retirement Savings Accounts (RRSPs) and Tax Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs). I'm not a financial advisor, but I know a bit about how the tax system works, and can do some basic arithmetic.
The mute king
Once upon a time there was a king. He was king because his father had been king before him, and his father before that. It was just kings, all the way back. The king gave orders, which people obeyed, because he was king. The king gave good orders, and because the people obeyed those orders, […]
The rejection letter I’m tempted to send
Dear Dr Untenured, Thank you for your submission to Review of Economic Theory of Consumer Habits (RETCH), dated May 8, 2011. After contacting ten reviewers, all of whom have declined to read your manuscript, I have given up, and am rejecting your paper due to lack of interest. Yours, Frances Woolley, Co-Editor.
Why we should be paying more attention to the SEPH employment numbers
The first Friday of every month is Employment Data Day in Canada and the US. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics releases employment data from its Current Population Survey (CPS – the household survey) and its Current Employment Statistics survey (CES – the payroll or establishment survey). For reasons I'll get into later, the establishment […]
Stein’s Law and Canadian Health Spending
Health economist Uwe Reinhardt in a recent Economix Blog posting noted the recent rates of U.S. health spending growth for 2009 and 2010 reported by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services were marked as the lowest rate in the 51-year history of the National Health Expenditure Accounts. Indeed, the growth rate for 2009 was […]
Misconceptions about Electro-Motive Diesel London
I was delighted to see Martin Regg Cohn write on the closure of the Electro-Motive plant in London, Ontario. Unfortunately the piece suffers from a number of commonly held misconceptions.
Retirement and the non-smoothing of consumption of leisure
Most of us take a short break for coffee, a longer break for lunch, a longer break from late afternoon to the following morning, a longer break at weekends, a longer break for holidays, and then a very long break indeed when we get old. There are two questions: 1. Why do we bunch our […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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