Category Canadian economy
Urban GDP
Statistics Canada has released experimental estimates of gross domestic product for the period 2001 to 2009 for 33 census metropolitan areas. The results of course reinforce what we already know – that Canada’s economic activity is concentrated in its cities and half of our GDP is produced in just six cities – Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, […]
Comparing Health Spending Restraint: Past and Present
Adjusting for inflation and population growth, the new CIHI numbers show per capita provincial and territorial government health expenditures have declined since their peak in 2010. From a high of $2,584 (1997 dollars), real provincial and territorial government health spending per capita has declined by 3.9 percent to reach an estimated $2,483.
New CIHI Health Numbers: Health Care Cost Curve Still Bending
The Canadian Institute for Health Information has released its 2014 edition of health spending data – National Health Expenditure Trends, 1975 to 2014 – and the numbers seem to show a continuing trend towards slower growth of health expenditures in Canada.
The New Mercantilists
In its search for new revenues, Ontario commissioned a government panel to examine how to wring more money out of government assets. In recent days, the panel led by TD Bank CEO Ed Clark has revealed several ideas including selling off Hydro One’s distribution business, restructuring Ontario Power Generation so it provides more revenues and […]
Government Dependency – Recent CMA Building Permit Composition in Canada
Ultimately all economics is local. Ontario municipalities are in the final throes of a municipal election race and in my own community the question of municipal economic development via public sector construction spending has come up. The concern is that much of the economic activity in my community over the last four years has been […]
Where is a Kenneth Carter When You Need One?
I would imagine that the name Kenneth Carter is not well known outside of a narrow range of economic specialists and accountants working in the tax or public finance area. Kenneth Carter was appointed in 1962 by a Conservative Prime Minister – John Diefenbaker – to examine and report on the federal tax system. The […]
Paying back the loan of forward guidance
If I read Stephen Poloz correctly, the Bank of Canada will not normally be doing forward guidance in the future. But it will use forward guidance in an emergency. I do not clearly understand Steve's reasoning (see section 7 of his discussion paper), but I think this is the right decision. "Forward guidance" is a […]
Another Portent of a Looming Federal Election
It turns out that that Federal Finance Minister Joe Oliver is reported as saying that “the government can shrink the national debt by growing the economy and ‘without actually paying off any debt’.” At the same time, as part of pre–budgetary consultations with the finance committee, the Conference Board of Canada, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation […]
Labour market slack in Canada and the US
Paul Krugman says: "My guess is that there’s considerably more slack [in the US labour market] than the unemployment number might lead you to suspect, but the truth is that I don’t know." Timothy Lane, deputy governor Bank of Canada, has an estimate that agrees with Paul's guess. He says (in a talk at Carleton […]
Burney’s Brave New Canada
I had the opportunity to hear Derek Burney speak yesterday. Mr. Burney is originally from Thunder Bay (Fort William to be precise) and went on to a distinguished public service career as a diplomat as well as chief of staff to Prime Minister Mulroney, president and CEO of CAE Inc, chairman and CEO of Bell […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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