Category Media
Manufacturing provincialism
The CAD has been climbing fast, so it’s to be expected that its altitude would start to affect some people’s decision-making skills. But you’d think that the premiers of Canada’s two largest provinces would keep their heads, wouldn’t you? Well, no. Calling on Stephen Harper to "do something" about the appreciating CAD is an extraordinarily […]
Bad economic journalism o’ the day
From today’s Globe and Mail: GM deal ‘a black day’ for Canada’s auto sector: One of the key pillars supporting Canada’s long-standing competitive advantage in the auto industry began crumbling Wednesday, less than a week after another one collapsed. General Motors Corp. and the United Auto Workers reached a deal that shifts the burden of […]
Manufacturing pointlessness
I can understand that the Toronto Star’s editorial board has fallen victim to the Manufacturing Obsession, and that it feels obliged to make the case that the interests of seven people who work outside the manufacturing sector are as nothing before those of a single Manufacturing Worker. But I can’t understand why it thinks that […]
Manufacturing obsession
Here are some data* on how the Canadian labour market has evolved since the CAD started appreciating against the USD five years ago: Very belated update: As a faithful reader of Andrew Gelman’s blog, I’ve been wondering if there was a better way of conveying this information. I think a bar chart would have been […]
Reports of the retreat of globalisation in Canada are greatly exaggerated.
Jim Stanford’s column ($ link) (update: free version here) in today’s Globe and Mail makes a surprising claim: Everyone knows globalization is an irresistible worldwide process enveloping every economy, including Canada’s, in its market-driven tentacles. Right? Wrong. In fact, since 2000, Canada’s economy has been curiously de-globalizing before our eyes. The importance of global markets […]
Is The Economist trying to make me crazy? Because it’s doing a damn fine job of it
A chart from this story in The Economist: Spot the missing G-7 country. Its population is roughly the same as the top five countries put together; the vast majority of which are able to read English. Hint: it’s not Chad.
I think this is how the Lucas supply curve works
The Economist reports that we have the ‘most positive influence’ on the world: I suspect that if we ever tried to use it, it would disappear.
The fallacy of composition: Canadian economy edition
For some inexplicable reason, the Globe and Mail decides that valuable space should be devoted to the musings of a US-based consultant: Where would Canada be without sizzling Alberta? Stalled without it, U.S. economist says: Alberta’s sizzling economy is keeping all of Canada from burning out, reckons one U.S.-based economist. Carl Weinberg, chief economist at […]
The Canadian Wheat Board: Won’t anybody think of the consumers?
The Canadian Wheat Board – a cartel for Canadian wheat producers – is experiencing the sort of troubles that all cartels have to deal with at some point or another: some of its members believe that they could do better on their own. We’ve all seen this story before, but a distinguishing feature of this […]
‘Canada? It’s a great place to live, but I wouldn’t want to visit there’
Looking through The Economist story on the outlook for consumer spending over the Christmas season, I came across this graph: You’ll see every G-7 country there but one – Canada (okay, Japan’s not there either, but that’s because Christmas is less of a consumer spending season there). And you’ll also see forecasts for Ireland, Portugal, […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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