Category International
Covid-19, Italy and Lessons for Canada
by Thomas Barbiero, Ryerson University and Livio Di Matteo, Lakehead University As Italo-Canadese and members of the large Italian diaspora throughout the world, we have found the COVID-19 situation in Italy truly heart-wrenching. As we write, Italy is the hardest hit country outside of China with over 60,000 confirmed cases and over 6,000 deaths. The […]
NAFTA – The “Worst” Trade Deal Ever
With time on my hands over the last week of the holiday season, I spent a bit more time than usual surfing news channels and watched a press conference by U.S. President Donald Trump in which among other things he again reiterated how the United States had been hard done by NAFTA and that it […]
Australian Economic Growth in Longer Term Perspective
A recent issue of The Economist highlighted the stellar economic performance of Australia – or as it was termed, “The Wonder Down Under” – arguing its economy is most arguably the most successful in the rich world. Australia has apparently not seen a recession for 27 years, seen its median income has grown four times […]
Is the Russia-America Global CoDominium About to Begin?
In the wake of the Putin-Trump Helsinki summit, there is much speculation about what was actually said between Putin and Trump behind closed doors and the uncertainty spread throughout the American government about whether agreements had been reached on issues such as Syria and the Ukraine. The subsequent invitation to Putin to visit the White […]
Military Spending in the G7: A Quick Post NATO Summit Comparison
Well, the Disruptor-in-Chief, US President Donald Trump is at it again. At today’s NATO summit he demanded that the members of NATO need to quickly increase their defence spending not only to meet the committed target of 2 percent of GDP but to also double their commitments to 4 percent of GDP. Needless to say, […]
Grain Transshipment at the Lakehead: A Canada Day Celebration
“Two towns stand on the shores of the Lake less than a mile apart. What Lloyd’s is to shipping, or the College of Surgeons to medicine, that they are to the Wheat.” Rudyard Kipling, Letters of Travel Just in time for July 1st, there was a short ceremony and plaque unveiling today at the Western […]
Public Debt: A Global Perspective
There is much international preoccupation with debt at the public sector, household and corporate levels and the upward creep in interest rates does apparently keep central bankers – including our own Mr. Poloz – awake at night. Given the problem is an international one, sometimes it is useful to try and get a global perspective […]
Donald Trump is a Mercantilist
A lot of ink is being spilled on Donald Trump and his America First approach to trade negotiations which has generated considerable trepidation and angst in both Ottawa and Mexico City as NAFTA appears headed for termination. Donald Trump is obsessed with the concept of trade deficits – which the United States does have on […]
Capital flows vs Kapital flows (simpler version)
Let me try to make the intuition of my previous post simpler and clearer. Suppose a country wants to invest more, because the profitability of investment has increased. It wants to increase the stock of kapital (machines) in its factories. There are three ways it could do this: 1 Divert some of its own production […]
Capital flows vs Kapital flows (very wonky)
This is only partly a response to Paul Krugman's posts. Mostly it's me trying to get my own head clear on something. This is a difficult topic, and this post is not as clear as it should be. So I don't expect many, or any, to fully understand it. I don't properly understand it myself. […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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