Category Canadian economy
Employment, Economic Comparisons and EU Trade
Despite continually being told that Canada has been one of the top economic performers throughout the recent world recession and financial crisis, we are not content to rest on our laurels and it appears that we continue to strive for better things. Canada is in the process of negotiating a comprehensive Free Trade agreement with […]
Ontario and its Physicians: Richer Than They Think No Longer
Ontario’s health minister Deb Matthews is moving into a major battle with the physicians in the process of trying to get health care costs under control as part of the provincial deficit fighting agenda. Deb Matthews has on a number of occasions remarked that Ontario’s physicians are the best paid in the country.
The Big Secret: Banks are banks
I have a confession to make. During the financial crisis I secretly bailed out the Bank of Montreal. I was part of a vast conspiracy of millions of other Canadians doing the same thing. It's worse. My personal bailout program for the Bank of Montreal started long before the financial crisis. It started when I […]
Fiscal policy, ideology, and framing
TiC Take a standard New Keynesian macro model. Assume it sometimes gets stuck in a ZLB liquidity trap, where monetary policy can't work. There is a very simple solution: use fiscal policy. Government spending should be cut whenever the economy is not in a liquidity trap. That is the clear policy implication of New Keynesian […]
Visualizing GDP Performance
Statistics Canada just released its GDP statistics by industry for the provinces and territories for 2011.
The Big Three Are Still Big
Employment growth in Canada has been particularly robust in the west and nowhere is this more evident than when examining recent employment growth amongst Canada’s CMAs.
Provincial Finances: An Estimate of “Tax Prices”
My previous post dealt with differences in provincial health spending and how on a per capita basis some provinces were substantially above the provincial average while others were not. One of the factors behind any government spending at the provincial level is own source revenue capacity so in light of some of the comments asking […]
Is a Constitutional Challenge Public Health Care’s Next Arena?
Many Canadians believe that the Canada Health Act is the bulwark that is supposed to be protecting public health care and that it should ensure comparable levels of coverage across the country. Yet, if one examines per capita provincial government health spending, the evidence shows that there are major differences.
Trade Shift?
Well, Stephen Harper’s recent statement during a talk at the Woodrow Wilson International Center as reported by the Globe and Mail during his recent visit to the United States that: “We cannot be in a situation where really our one and only energy partner can say no to our energy products” underscores what seems to […]
Ontario’s 2012 Budget: Bending the Spending Curve
Well the Ontario budget is out and despite all the talk of 30 percent across-the-board budget cutting in the wake of the Drummond Report, it forecasts more a deceleration of spending growth rather than steep cuts.
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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