Tag Archives: trade
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 […]
Understanding Softwood Lumber: Another View
As we move into the latest iteration of the ongoing softwood lumber dispute with the United States, I thought it might be useful to look at some data to see if any additional insight can be gained. The conventional wisdom on the story is that the disagreements have been over the way the two countries […]
Happy New Year….Really!
Well, it’s the start of a New Year and traditionally there should be a sense of optimism to a fresh start. Indeed, at least one forecasting company feels that the global outlook for 2017 is at least stable despite the challenges of 2016 and indeed is expecting an uptick in commodity prices. However, given the […]
Burney’s Brave New Canada
I had the opportunity to hear Derek Burney speak yesterday. Mr. Burney is originally from Thunder Bay (Fort William to be precise) and went on to a distinguished public service career as a diplomat as well as chief of staff to Prime Minister Mulroney, president and CEO of CAE Inc, chairman and CEO of Bell […]
Trade, Growth and … Brazil
In a recent address on global growth and Canadian export prospects to the Economic Club of Canada, the Bank of Canada’s Tiff Macklem noted that Canada’s share of world trade has been in decline for over a decade and that the loss of global trade share has been the second highest of the G-20. Given […]
This is what a barrier to trade looks like
The line-ups for the Kazungula ferry start two or three kilometres from the water on either side of the Zambezi river. Each line up might be 150 trucks long. But the Kazungula crossing is served by just two pontoon ferries. Each ferry takes one truck, and makes the return journey in half an hour or so, transporting perhaps […]
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 […]
Friedrich List: The Un-Adam Smith
Here is something a little different. My history of economic thought course has just finished up with John Stuart Mill and I will be moving into the socialist reaction to classical economic theory. Most of us probably associate Marx and socialism with criticism of the classical school but there was also an early non-socialist reaction […]
Why it’s hard to profit from northern asparagus
Life explodes in springtime: green grass, flowers, blossoms. Asparagus, strawberries, rhubarb. Fiddleheads. These seasonal crops all thrive in northern climates. So why is it hard to grow them profitably? There are boring, obvious explanations: labour costs, the high Canadian dollar, and so on. This post explores another reason for asparagus unprofitability. Canadian asparagus is ready […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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