Author Archives: wciecon
Oil prices, the CAD and the Bank of Canada
Apparently both Nick and I have been spending the weekend thinking about the recent run-up in the CAD and the Bank of Canada's attempt to talk it down. My take on it is based on the relationship between the exchange rate and commodity prices, and it starts below the fold.
Talking down the Loonie?
The Loonie (Canadian dollar) has appreciated against the US dollar recently. The Bank of Canada expressed its concern in Thursday's Announcement. "In recent weeks, financial conditions and commodity prices have improved significantly, and consumer and business confidence have recovered modestly. If the unprecedentedly rapid rise in the Canadian dollar (which reflects a combination of higher […]
The May LFS survey: Ontari-ari-ario is not a place to grow
The May LFS release pretty much cancels out the (surprising) growth in employment we saw in April. Here is the latest in my series of graphs comparing the current recession with previous experiences: It's way too early to break out the party hats, but we can perhaps set aside direct comparisons with the Great Depression. […]
“Investment” in housing
Talking about "investment" in housing is guaranteed to provoke a reaction. It's a way of talking about houses that sounds so reminiscent of the bubble mentality. It's yesterday's way of thinking. "A house is not an investment; it's a place to live!" is today's way of thinking. I decided to write this post after reading […]
EI reform: Jack Mintz piles on
I am pleased to report that another voice has been added to the public debate on whether the Liberals' proposals for EI are dumber than a sack of hammers or if they are simply pointless. Jack Mintz has written an op-ed for the National Post on the topic, and it starts thus: Jack Mintz: 360 […]
Canadian long-term interest rates are increasing as well
A certain amount of attention has been focused on the recent jump in the yields on longer-term US government bonds. There are at least two interpretations: 1) This is good news. In normal times, an increase in the spread between long- and short-term interest rates would be interpreted as a signal that the economy is […]
Is fiscal conservatism about deficits or debt?
I was on CPAC Sunday evening, on a roundtable with two other economists: David MacDonald (who coordinated the alternative budget for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives); and Glen Hodgson (Chief Economist for the Conference Board). [You can watch it here – SG.] The topic was Canada's projected $50 billion federal deficit; should we be […]
Why share-of-GDP is the correct measure for the size of government
In this post, I made the point that as a share of GDP, program expenditures by the federal government are less than what John Diefenbaker saw, and my conclusion was that the whole "runaway spending" meme was just silly. On his blog, Andrew Coyne added his voice to this chorus. When I made the point […]
Yet another review of Joseph Heath’s “Filthy Lucre”
I spent the past weekend in Toronto, attending the meetings of the Canadian Economics Association, and I took advantage of the occasion to track down the book that was the subject of Nick's earlier post. (The bookstores here in Quebec City cannot be relied upon to provide such fare). To echo Nick's review, it is […]
A plea for a sensible change to EI
The Canadian Labour Congress' Andrew Jackson is worried about EI claimants who might be exhausting their benefits. If the opposition is serious about using EI reform as a cudgel for bashing the government, they would do well to read Andrew's post.
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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