Category Canadian economy
We learn, and then we forget
Every time the census is released, hopes are raised for the future of bilingualism in Canada. Although relatively few older Canadians can speak both official languages, bilingualism rates are higher for young Canadians. Here's a picture, based on 2006 Census data, showing the percentage of non-Francophones in each age group who are bilingual, that is, […]
Divine Coincidence Failure. UK lessons for the Bank of Canada
According to "divine coincidence", the monetary policy that is best for stabilising inflation is also best for stabilising real output. Divine coincidence seems to be holding up fairly well in Canada. But the recent UK experience is a case where divine coincidence has failed. The Bank of Canada's inflation target is up for renewal this […]
Fiscal Policy, the Environment, and How Not to Solve Policy Problems
Canada and by extension the Canadian government faces a number of challenges. There are two in particular I find fascinating:
Why is Canadian GDP Growth Higher Under Liberal Governments?
Canadian economic growth is about two percentage points higher under Liberal governments. At least, that's what my colleagues Stephen Ferris and Marcel Voia found in their recent article in the Canadian Journal of Economics (earlier ungated version here). This is a large impact. For example, if the economy was growing at 1 percent under a Conservative government, […]
Organic Milk and Japanese Cars
In the Spring of 2009, the Dairy Farmers of Canada launched the "100% Canadian milk campaign." Products displaying the logo shown on the right are guaranteed to be made with 100% Canadian milk. I'll admit it. As someone who lived through the British BSE outbreak of the 1980s, I'm slightly paranoid about milk safety. I'm […]
Does the construction industry suffer false consciousness?
According to research carried out by Professor Jack Mintz of University of Calgary, the construction industry stood to gain enormously from Ontario's adoption of the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST): In 2009, the business tax structure was heavily biased against investments in construction (42.2%) and services… By 2018, however, Ontario’s business tax structure will be not only […]
Does the rest of the world subsidize research on the American economy?
When studios shoot movies or TV shows in Canada, they stick US licence plates on the cars and pretend Toronto is New York (the Rudy Giuliani biopic Rudy), Alberta is Wyoming (Brokeback Mountain), and BC is Kansas (Smallville). Studios do it because anything explicitly Canadian tanks in the ratings. The same rule applies to blogging. […]
Canadian Economic Forecasts 2011 – Make Yours Now!
Continuing the now two year old tradition, I invite you all to make forecasts for 2011. Forecasts are for the latest data available on New Year's Day 2012.
Canadian Economic Forecasts: 2010 revisited
Happy New Year everyone! Last January we made forecasts for 2010. It's now time to check how well we did. (I will do a separate post for 2011 forecasts). Commenter Mark wins this one by a mile. Well done Mark!
Holiday pictures
Some images to capture the holiday spirit…
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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