If there is one finding of near unanimous consensus among economists, it is that free trade increases productivity and boosts growth. The flip side is that tariffs, quotas, and other trade barriers generally reduce welfare. By how much? A recent study by the...
“It takes real skill to derail an industry where Canada has so many competitive advantages,” writes Rick Rule regarding energy markets. The chief executive of Sprott US Holdings, a natural-resource brokerage, says the barrier is politics, while Canadian firms,...
This summer, the federal government paid employers more than $200 million and up to 100 percent of compensation to get them to hire students. If these young adults are Canada’s best and brightest—enjoying taxpayer-funded education—why are they so unappealing to...
The proposed federal regulation of Canadian capital markets is of dubious constitutional authority and is a centralist solution in search of a problem. Contrary to the claims of the chief proponents, who enjoy federal funding, it would make markets less harmonious and...
Free citizens have minds of their own and want to pursue their lives as they see fit. This is inconvenient for the elites, who wish to be in charge of everyone’s lives so that they can show their superiority and gain benefit for themselves and their friends. So the...
Demographia International Housing Affordability rates middle-income housing affordability in 94 major housing markets in eight nations: Australia, Canada, China, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States. This edition covers the third...
If buzzwords were the path to prosperity, Canada would be growing like gangbusters. It is not, and the Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative (VCCI)—with an expansion announced in the federal economic statement—is a case of lofty words anathema to efficient and healthy...
Canada's spy agencies want access to your encrypted communication, and they have a ploy to get it without going through Parliament. Australia is where the action is taking place since she has fewer constitutional protections for privacy. The 2018 Assistance and Access...
Many advocates for cultural diversity have a sudden change of heart when the topic turns to Canada's "cultural industries." As they say in Argentina, for money, the monkey will dance. What constitutes Canadian heritage, given her complex milieu, tends to be in the eye...
When fundraising garnered leftover crumbs, the gatekeepers of finance barely cared to notice. Now digitized, it is garnering a growing portion of the financial pie and running into regulatory barriers and legal limbo in Canada. The critics of crowdfunding,...
You might wonder how legislators could possibly lose money by legalizing and taxing an addictive substance. Behold, Canadian officials have outdone themselves with the rollout of recreational cannabis. Both provinces and municipalities, many already in financial dire...
State digital currencies, those that attempt to emulate private cryptocurrencies, are doomed to fail. Not only will they fail in terms of adoption, despite having the state behind them, they will fail in terms of the objectives that drive alternative currencies. The...
Canada’s homeless population is primarily a symptom of a restrained housing supply, and government initiatives will continue to fail while the underlying cause is not addressed.
Canada’s homeless population is primarily a symptom of a restrained housing supply, and government initiatives will continue to fail while the underlying cause is not addressed.
Further research and creative remedies will be needed if Alberta’s landowners are not to pay a disproportionate price for infrastructure and environmental regulation.