Author Archives: wciecon
Are gifted education programs a waste of money?
In my latest Globe and Mail piece, I summarized a study by Sa Bui, Steven G. Craig, and Scott Imberman on the effectiveness of gifted education. The authors look at students in a large urban American school district who were evaluated for gifted programming in grade five. They ask: Who does better on the grade 6 and 7 […]
The 2011 election and Somebody Else’s Problem
In Life, the Universe and Everything, Douglas Adams posited the existence of 'SEPs': An SEP is something we can't see, or don't see, or our brain doesn't let us see, because we think that it's somebody else's problem…. The brain just edits it out, it's like a blind spot. If you look at it directly […]
The echoes of internment
The internment of Japanese-Canadians during the second World War was one of the less noble points in Canadian history. But this post is not about guilt or shame. Economists are increasingly aware that history matters. A recent survey by the Harvard-based Canadian economist Nathan Nunn describes how decisions made centuries ago – for example, the types of […]
People of Plenty
American historian David Potter’s book People of Plenty argued that resource abundance shaped the American attitude towards possibility and opportunity. Abundant resources set the stage for wealth accumulation and created a society that believes that everyone can become rich through their own work and effort and that initiative and opportunity are the key to social […]
Sellers and buyers
I must have met thousands of people whose job is to sell things. Right now, I can only think of one person I have met whose job is to buy things. Why that massive asymmetry? Three possible explanations, off the top of my head:
Is core inflation an artefact?
Headline inflation (total CPI inflation) has been above core inflation since last June. That's for Canada, but it's roughly the same in most other countries too. Most central banks, and most economists, pay more attention to core inflation than total inflation as an indicator of underlying inflationary pressures. Core inflation has inertia, and so is […]
A Marketing and Brand Management Guy Examines the Liberal Campaign
Since everybody else is kicking the Liberals while they are down, I thought I'd join in the fun. I've taught marketing at the University level and my private-sector day job is mostly marketing. As someone who does marketing for a living, I found the last Liberal campaign truly baffling.
The Liberal dilemma: centrist or centralist?
The Encyclopedia Britannica defines Canada's Liberal party as centrist. If this is true, then their collapse can be explained by a splintering of the electorate, so fewer Canadians identify with the centre, or by an increase in political competition. Now other parties, such as the Greens, compete for the centrist vote. While both these stories […]
Is Toronto Leading Canada’s Economic Recovery?
Statistics Canada has just released the most recent building permit numbers and they show that municipalities issued building permits worth $6.8 billion in March 2011, a 17.2% increase from February and a level not seen since June 2007. Moreover, the gain was mostly the result of advances in the residential and non-residential sectors in Ontario.
Money, interest, employment, and luck
Monetary disequilibrium theorists must face this question: "If this recession was caused by an excess demand for money, how come interest rates are so low? Doesn't an excess demand for money mean an excess supply of bonds and rise in interest rates?" [Warning: this post is long, rambling, and unclear. I ought to tear it […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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