Author Archives: wciecon
Rethinking the traditional academic office
During my time as a professor, I've had a series of offices with a series of big, solid, 1970s oak desks. I have never worked at these desks. They're useless for computing, as they're the wrong height. They're useless for explaining things to students, because they aren't designed for two or more people to sit side-by-side. All […]
The economics of SSHRC research grants IV: A collective action problem
As irritating as it was, SSHRC's infatuation with Research in Buzzword Studies is not why Insight Grant (IG) success rates have stayed so low, even as the budget envelope has increased. The problem is the hard-won budgetary rigour that was established during the last years of the old Standard Research Grant (SRG) program disappeared when […]
The economics of SSHRC research grants III: Research in Buzzword Studies
When SSHRC replaced the old Standard Research Grant (SRG) program with the Insight Grant (IG) program, it did more than simply increase the budget for research grants. It also introduced "priority research areas" (see Frances on this here) that would receive special attention. It turned out that the amounts allocated to these new research areas would […]
Is Ontario Spending Too Little on Hospitals?
Earlier this month, the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions issued a media release for their The Fewer Hands, Less Hospital Care report, that made the following statement: “Based on the latest figures from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), Ontario government funding for hospitals is $1,395.73 per capita. The rest of Canada, excluding Ontario, […]
The economics of SSHRC research grants II: Cutting and restoring budgets
In the first post of this series, I noted that much of the reduction in SSHRC research grant success rates during the transition from the old 3-year Standard Research Grants (SRG) to the new 5-year Insight Grants (IG) could be explained by the stock-flow dynamics of changing grant durations. But that's not the whole story: success rates […]
The economics of SSHRC research grants I: Why are success rates so low?
I've participated a few times in the adjudication process for the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) research grant programs: twice as a reviewer, and three times as chair. (Chairs have to be bilingual, so Quebec profs are often called up to serve as chair.) Regular WCI readers – and of course researchers in humanities […]
Time use: what’s the Big Question?
Whole academic publishing industries have been built around Big Questions. There's the Big Trust Question: “Generally speaking, would you say that most people can be trusted or that you need to be very careful in dealing with people?” There's the Big Satisfaction Question: "All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole […]
That height study: bad science, bad reporting, both – or neither?
It's been reported on NPR: Americans are shrinking, while Chinese and Koreans sprout up. In the New York Times: Adults have become shorter in many countries. In the Guardian: Women and men have grown taller over last century. On Global News: Canadians don't stack up in height quite like they used to. In the Daily Telegraph: British overtake Americans after growing […]
Finite Horizon models of inflation as the horizon goes to infinity
You have an infinite horizon model of inflation. Your model tells you what happens to the time-path of the price level P(t) if the central bank changes monetary policy. Please do something: Convert your infinite horizon model into a finite horizon model. Suppose the price level at time T, when the world ends, is pinned […]
Scarce versus Abundant TP Equilibria
Canada is in an abundant TP equilibrium. Washrooms in restaurants, shopping malls, museums, universities, and other public places are, generally speaking, well stocked with toilet paper (TP). Inner Mongolia is in a scarce TP equilibrium. With the exception of elite venues such as four star hotels and airports, toilet paper is absent from public places. […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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