Category Stephen Gordon
The optimal size of government is a partisan issue. The optimal tax mix isn’t.
There are so many misconceptions about tax policy and the size of government that it's almost impossible to sort through them all. But I'm going to do the best I can.
My weekend with Liberals and Thinkers
I don't have much in the way of a comprehensive narrative for how the Canada 150 conference went, or what its implications are. My live blogging post is here, and my general impressions are below the fold.
Live-blogging the Liberals’ “Canada at 150” conference
Never underestimate the power of twitter. A few weeks ago, Canwest journalist David Akin tweeted that in addition to regular media, Canada 150 would be accrediting some bloggers as well. It turned out that the deadline had past, but I sent in my information anyway. The other day, I received an e-mail to the effect […]
In which I say something nice about the NDP
It occurs to me that I am often critical of the NDP. This is due to a combination of factors: They comment frequently on economic issues, and They get things wrong. Other parties avoid these scoldings not so much by getting things right as by not commenting on economic issues. So I should congratulate the […]
A bad argument against lower corporate income tax rates
Here it is: The case for corporate tax cuts is that they supposedly prompt businesses to invest more in Canada. Critics have countered that an unconditional gift to those corporations which are already profitable will not necessarily increase investment. A third possibility that has received little attention helps explain why corporate tax cuts are so […]
The Bank of Canada and the exchange rate: the facts have changed, and so has its views
You will remember that the dollar went from 0.86 USD to 0.97 between July and October of last year, and that the question of what to do about the appreciating CAD took up a lot of our attention in the fall. (Sadly, much of my attention was diverted to how badly the issue was covered […]
Putting the foreign-ownership cart ahead of the innovation horse
David Olive gets things wrong in his column today. Foreign ownership is not to blame for low levels of productivity and innovation in Canada. A 2005 StatsCan study (pdf) found that "foreign-controlled plants are more productive than domestic-controlled plants" and "are also more innovative, more R&D intensive and use more advanced technologies." Protecting domestic managers […]
A question for Canadian housing bubble theorists
I suppose that this really should be entitled "A question for Vancouver housing bubble theorists", because pretty much every 'Canadian housing bubble' story I've seen uses anecdotes from Vancouver. Here is the question: How do you get from a fall in Vancouver (or Canadian) house prices to a Canada-wide economic crisis? And no, you cannot […]
Mike Moffatt joins Worthwhile Canadian Initiative
For several years now, Mike Moffatt has been running the economics page at About.com, as well as writing a blog to which I've linked repeatedly. He has decided to move on to other projects, but he'd like to keep blogging. Nick and I would also like him to keep blogging, so we are very pleased […]
The Bank of Canada and the Fed are facing different problems, and will make different choices
David Rosenberg has been saying ([1], [2]) that the Bank shouldn't and/or won't start increasing interest rates until the Fed does, but I don't understand the reasoning behind this conclusion. Usually, the US and Canadian economies follow similar paths and since their monetary authorities have broadly similar goals, this has resulted in broadly similar decisions. […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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