Category International
Kill the Euro now?
It's an ugly thing to say, especially since the end of the Euro will be an ugly thing. But it needs to be said. Back in June, Canada came under pressure to help the Eurozone survive, and came under criticism for failing to help (or failing to help enough). Canada's position was defensible on many […]
Growth and Development: The Very Long Run
Well, though still on the road, I’m back in Canada after a conference trip to South Africa where I was part of a session on the analysis of late nineteenth/early twentieth century wealth in Britain and its Dominions using probate records. For a summary of my trip, click here. There was a multitude of interesting […]
A Debt Interpretation of Canadian Confederation
The apparent success of Europe's leaders in dealing with the European economic crisis at their recent summit may mark the beginnings of a stronger fiscal union but exactly how this might be enforced is still a big question. The long term goal is to tie budgets, currencies and governments even more tightly together. However, without […]
Permanent productivity differentials and Optimal Currency Areas
Many good economists, like Simon Johnson and Paul Krugman for example, have said something about permanent productivity differentials and optimal currency areas I simply do not understand. (Lots of other people say the same thing, but when good economists say it and I don't understand it I get worried.) Maybe they are making some implicit […]
What’s a “country”?
Take any country. Or rather, take any normal country, with its own currency. Suppose some people in that country are less "productive" (defined however you want) than other people in that country. That's normal. Now let's call the less productive people "Greeks" and the more productive people "Germans". Does calling them different names suddenly cause […]
New Limits, Same Issues
Well, nearly a year after the topic was discussed here on Worthwhile Canadian Initiative, the Canadian government has loosened the rules on how much Canadian can bring back from the United States.
Devaluation and the Euro
"Consider a small open economy with fixed exchange rates. Suppose the central bank announces that it will devalue the currency by 50% one year from today. What are the consequences of this announcement?" IIRC, the whole point of the Euro was that questions like that wouldn't make any sense, and so would never need to […]
Manufacturing exports vs resource exports
The misguided notion that the shift from manufactured exports to resource exports is necessarily a bad thing has taken ferocious hold on many politicians and on much of the punditry. So I'm recycling something I wrote before to explain why it's wrong.
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 […]
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 […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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