The federal government should avoid the temptation to assist specific sectors of the economy, such as auto and forestry that must downsize in the face of permanent reductions in the demand for their products.
Year: 2008
Subsidizing Business is No Way to Build an Economy
It seems like only yesterday -- in fact, it was April 2007 -- when the Conservative government announced $900 million in federal assistance for Canada's aerospace industry, with most of the money destined for Quebec. Not enough. In his grilling of the government last...
Are We Ailing from Too Much Deregulation?
Many journalists claim that the U.S. economy since the late 1970s has been very free, with little regulation; that this absence of regulation has caused markets to fail; that there was a consensus in favor of little regulation; and that, now, this consensus is fading. On all these counts, the reports are false. Specifically, the U.S. economy has not been free since before the New Deal of the 1930s.
Old Roman Politic Should be Bygone
Why funding stadiums is not a legitimate role for government.
Featured News
The Swedish Response to Covid-19 versus Canada
In a recent New York Times article, David Wallace Wells asked, “How did No-Mandate Sweden End up with such an average pandemic”. Let’s be clear. This admission from the New York Times, who tried to destroy the response to Covid-19, starting in April 2020 and...
Draconian, Anti-Science Measures During the Pandemic Has Led to Loss of Trust in Our Institutions
Candida Auris is a fungus that, unlike most fungi, can survive in a human body. It is capable of spreading within the body, resulting in an agonizing death. For unknown reasons the fungus is spreading at a rather alarming rate. So far, cases have been confined to long...
The Next Team
What would you call a group of economists who are skeptical of regulating mortgage markets, who think unemployment insurance and unions increase unemployment, who say that tax hikes retard economic growth, and who believe that the recovery from the Great Depression was a monetary phenomenon rather than the result of New Deal fiscal policy? No, it is not a right-wing cabal. It’s Team Obama.
Manitoba – Canada’s Biggest Provincial Landlord
Another Downside of Rent Control. FC045
City’s Tax Spending Formula Gets Pass
The City of Prince George scored somewhat favourably in the proportion of expenditures that go to "core" responsibilities when compared to other municipalities, but there's still room for improvement, according to a study released Wednesday by a right-wing think tank....
Regina Does Well in Financial Disclosure
The author of a new report says the City of Regina is doing a good job of disclosing its financial performance with the exception that it does not account for its capital assets. The second annual Local Government Performance Index reveals that all 79 municipalities...
Victoria, Saanich Pay Less than Most of Us
Homeowners in Victoria and Saanich pay less in property taxes than the Canadian average according to figures released yesterday by a Prairie think-tank. The average municipality in Canada raises $1,937 per household in taxes and raises $4,869 per household in total...
City Taxes Top Norm: Study
Barrie homeowners, businesses and industries were collectively taxed 41 per cent more than the Ontario average last year, says a recent think-tank study. And the reason is this city spends 76 per cent more on basic municipal services -- such as water, sewer and roads...
City Stacks up Poorly on Tax Front
City residents pay higher taxes than most Ontarians, but City Hall spends less on recreation, culture and services than their municipal partners. The Frontier Centre for Public Policy released its annual report card for Canadian cities, ranking the relative financial...
Corporate Canada and Our Fiscal Life-Jackets
Corporations will always rise and fall; they shouldn’t be given help to grab life-jackets from the rest of us on the way down.
A Question of Accountability
Saint John’s audited statements should be immediately available, analyst says.