Category Canada – Politics
Appeasing anti-tax sentiment
Alex Himelfarb has an opinion piece in today's Globe and Mail on the 'anti-tax' sentiment that has grown to play such a dominant role in Canadian politics. Although I agree with his diagnosis, his prescriptions are not so much a plan for countering anti-tax sentiment as they are a symptom of its hold on public […]
A Lament for Public Policy
In New Directions for Intelligent Government in Canada: Papers in Honour of Ian Stewart, Don Drummond reflects on the state of public policy analysis in Canada and whether the rigour of policy analysis that existed in the past still exists today though he wisely cautions that “tales of the good old days are often the […]
Transfer Dependency’s New Friends
Well, I decided to finish off my postings on provincial revenues and go to the Federal Fiscal Reference Tables which provide a federal transfer revenue variable for each province from 1987/87 to 2009/10 as well as provincial revenues. I have a plot of nominal per capita transfer revenues and not surprisingly it shows an upward […]
A 90% Subsidy to Political Riding Associations?
While the per-vote subsidy is being phased out, it is only one of four subsidies given to political parties, with the other 3 being as follows: A tax rebate to persons making a political donation, including a 75% rebate to those donating $400 or less (Sec. 127(3) of the Income Tax Act) A 50% spending […]
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 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 […]
The Efficient Election Market Hypothesis
I'm not displeased by the election results last night. But. Economists talk about "Market Failure" — cases where markets will not lead to an efficient (Pareto Optimal) allocation of resources, because of: market power; externalities; asymmetric information; adverse selection; moral hazard; etc. Good economists then go on to talk about "Government Failure". Just because the […]
A Short Assessment of Federal Election 2011 Results
With the election over and a Conservative majority government, one can expect to see a continuation of current federal economic policy with respect to lower corporate taxes, targeted spending programs, as well as a more explicit articulation and implementation of a philosophy of smaller government.
Intelligent Government in Canada — Ian Stewart Festschrift
I have 300+ exam papers to grade, and simply don't have time to do a proper post on this. (I don't really have the breadth of knowledge required either). Anyone interested in public policy in Canada, from a mostly economic perspective, would have benefited greatly from attending the conference (organised by the Centre for the […]
Canada’s Kobyashi Maru Test
In the Star Trek universe, one of the curriculum requirements for Starfleet Officer cadets is the infamous Kobyashi Maru test – the test of ultimate character and command ability.
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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