Tag Archives: federal government
Federal Budgetary Comparisons: Canada and the United States
It is federal government budget season in both Canada and the United States and I thought it might be useful to provide a few visual comparisons on federal government finance for the two countries. While the expenditure responsibilities and composition of the two federal governments as well as the relationships and responsibilities with lower tier […]
The Great Convergence: Federal Transfer Revenue Shares 1980/81 to 2013/14
Well the Council of the Federation began meeting in St. John’s yesterday and given we are on the cusp of a federal election, there will no doubt be a targeting of Ottawa’s role in provincial finances. Naturally, there will be some lamentations about the Prime Minister’s absence – once again – from this annual meeting. […]
The Federal Deficit: A Long Term View
In honour of the 2015 Federal Budget and the balancing of the budget, why not a retrospective on Canadian federal government deficits since 1867. In the period from 1867 to 2014, the Federal government has run a deficit in 108 out of 148 years or 73 percent of the time. In nominal terms, the federal […]
Fiscal Ships
“We're two ships that pass in the night, And we smile when we say it's alright We're still here, It's just that we're out of sight Like those ships that pass in the night” Barry Manilow Next week is a double-header of sorts for economists interested in Canadian public finance – a Federal budget on […]
Balancing the Premiers
Apparently, ten out of ten premiers (13 out of 13 if we count the territories) can agree that Canada is suffering from a “fiscal imbalance” between Ottawa and the provinces. At their annual meetings, which are wrapping up in Charlottetown today, the provincial premiers are arguing that since the Federal budget is moving into surplus […]
Visioning the Surplus
The Federal government is poised to move into a period of fiscal surplus. According to the 2014 Federal Budget, the 2014-15 fiscal year will see a 2.9 billion dollar deficit (which could actually be a small surplus due to the 3 billion dollar contingency fund). After that, 2015-16 will see a 6.4 billion dollar surplus […]
Who is More Fiscally Sustainable: Ottawa or Queen’s Park?
Both the Federal and Ontario budgets are nearly upon us and the key watchword for both is going to be the sustainability of the public finances.
Rendering More Unto Caesar
Given that the Christmas season is associated with giving, rendering unto Caesar is a suitable blog topic even if it is compulsory rather than voluntary giving.
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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