“So who benefited most from Ottawa’s billions in stimulus spending over the past two years? Construction workers? Undoubtedly. Lots of public works projects have moved forward that otherwise may not have begun for many more years. And autoworkers? Indisputably. Without taxpayer bailouts, tens of thousands of auto and parts workers would have been out of jobs. Yet beyond these two sectors, there is little chance the billions poured down the drain had much impact on other sectors, especially small businesses.”
Worth A Look
Avoiding the EI Tax-Hike Hammer
“Imagine your neighbour hits you in the head with a hammer, and then says you should be elated that he hit you only once because originally he had planned to hit you three times. This is the kind of argument Finance Minister Flaherty is using to sell his Employment Insurance (EI) tax hike planned for January 1st next year.”
Stop Giving $36B A Year To The Provinces: Less-centralized systems are more efficient
“Conservative MP Maxime Bernier argued that federal transfers to the provinces — especially in health and education — are inefficient, if not simply unconstitutional. He proposed to replace them with a transfer of tax points, allowing the provinces to occupy the fiscal room thus vacated.”
A Tale of Two Legacies; One Positive And Constructive, The Other Negative and Destructive
“As advisor and educator for farmers, foresters and other rural denizens, I found them more environmentally aware and concerned in practical ways than environmentalists. They live in the real world beyond the urban enclaves. They’re more aware and more concerned because it sustains them and their families.”
Featured News
Fostering a Constructive, Business-Friendly Regime Sustains Innovation, Not Government Money
For standards of living to grow, productivity growth must be strong and continually renewed. That is one notion that nearly all economists can agree on. So, it is not surprising that politicians scramble to discover new or not-so-new ways to boost productivity growth....
Big Tech Influence Can Tip Elections
Behavioural psychologist Robert Epstein believes Google can and does influence voters and that research teams in Canada and elsewhere need to monitor how users are being swayed. Epstein, the former editor-in-chief of Psychology Today and founder of the American...
Three Principles for Bringing on a Crisis
Transparency and accountability, determination to take the long view and fair distribution of burdens. Neglect of those principles helped bring the crisis about and threaten to prolong it. Honouring them better can help us get out of it faster and stronger.
Follow The Kiwi Leader, Not Obama
Paradoxically, the raft of hasty public spending initiatives implemented across the world may hold back recovery if households and markets become increasingly alarmed about higher future taxation, interest rates and inflation.
Sweating About Small Stuff? Don’t Overdose On Worry
As for individuals who think their pet toxin is responsible for all of society’s ills, well, they could use a cold shower. And for me, my worry is that I’m not sure what to worry about. I don’t think worrying about everything is the answer.
Climate Change’s Dim Bulbs
The story recounted some Americans’ misadventures with the new light bulbs that almost all Americans — all but those who are filling their closets with supplies of today’s incandescent bulbs — will have to use after the phaseout of today’s bulbs in 2014.
The Best Prepared Award
Next time the prime minister talks about every country being brought down by this crisis – or the chancellor suggests that everyone made the same mistakes – remember Canada. Nowhere is immune, but by most key measures, the Canadians are coming out of this crisis in a league of their own.
A Policy That Is Outdated, Expensive And Unworkable
Every Canadian federal government has faced this question since the first one took office in 1867, taking over a patchwork of reserves and treaties negotiated under British rule. In the absence of a convincing answer that satisfied both governments and governed, Canada has opted for incremental change. The result is a system that is increasingly outdated, expensive and unworkable (a fate Canada shares with other postcolonial societies like Australia).
’80s-Era Crisis Feared In Alberta; Premier Rejects Warning In U of C Report
The Stelmach government is stuck in the same financial quicksand as the 1980s Getty era and is facing similar
Climate Fairy Tales
Under that catchy title, Hans Labohm of the Dagelijkse Standaard writes a post listing the 10 talking points around ‘Climate Change’ that are rehearsed and recycled over and over again on an almost daily basis by the Dutch (and wider European/Western) MSM. But what’s more, Mr. Labohm provides the rebuttal swiftly and brutally in the form of links proving the lie to these fairy tales. If you read Dutch, head on over to read the entire thing.
Telling CO2 Lies to Destroy America
I am increasingly of the opinion that the main goal of the Obama administration through CO2 regulation, exploding deficits, punishing taxation, and any other means at their disposal is the destruction of the economy and the complete control of impoverished Americans.