Category Fiscal policy
The Quebec budget: Will good economics be good politics?
The media are reporting that economists are singing the praises of the Quebec budget, and if asked, I'd add my voice to that chorus. This is the work of adults who take their responsibilities seriously, and the Charest government is to be congratulated for finally paying attention to what economists have been telling successive governments […]
Do we need a bubble?
There is something economists have known since 1958 that we don't talk about much, except in private, like in economics journals that nobody else reads. It's a bit too weird. There are two sorts of world. In a normal world, the equilibrium rate of interest is above the growth rate of the economy. In a […]
Why the LM curve is (usually) vertical, and the AD curve (usually) horizontal
Short version: because the Bank of Canada (or any inflation-targeting central bank) makes the LM curve vertical and the AD curve horizontal. Long version below the fold:
Some simple arithmetic of debt/GDP and population growth
I had always known that a given debt/GDP ratio would be more worrying for a country with declining population than for a country with a growing population. There will be fewer future people to carry the same future burden. But I had never sat down to do the arithmetic, until just now. What surprised me […]
If we knew then what we know now: Comparing 2009Q1 forecasts with 2010Q1 reality
In February 2009, back when columnists were confidently writing stuff like this, I wrote a post with the title "Why forecasters are predicting a short Canadian recession" explaining the narrative behind the consensus forecast. I think it's fair to say that the OMGWTFBBQ!1!!1!!! narrative doesn't look so good now – although I defy you to […]
Three thoughts on the Budget
None very insightful, but for what they are worth:
Mr Micawber’s budget
This is not a serious policy document. There are a couple of good ideas (eg, eliminating tariffs on machinery imports), but what we were looking for was an indication of how the deficit was going to be dealt with, even if those measures didn't take effect this year. What we got was Micawbernomics: make incredibly […]
Live-tweeting the federal budget
So I opened up a twitter account yesterday – you may have noticed the button at the bottom of the sidebar at right. It's something of an experiment, and I'll probably just use it for things that I can't work up to a fully-fledged blog post. There are a lot of those. Today I used […]
The Debt of Strangers
Does this question make sense: "Is debt too high?"? It certainly makes sense for me to ask whether my debt is too high. Should I try to earn more income, reduce my consumption, or sell off some assets? And if a friend asks me whether his debt is too high, I could offer him advice […]
What measures should be in the federal budget?
The federal government brings down its budget on Thursday. From what I can gather from various media stories, the word is that it'll be pretty thin. The two-year stimulus package announced last year will continue as planned, and no new tax measures are expected. This thread asks the question: what would you like to see […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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