“The situation for Canada as a whole wasn’t much better. Only 46% of unemployed Canadians received EI benefits during the recession of 2008-09, compared with 71% and 76% in the recessions of 1981-82 and 1990-91, the study found.”
Worth A Look
A Disguised Welfare Scheme: EI isn’t an insurance program. It’s an interregional transfer of wealth
“That means EI isn’t an insurance program, despite its name. It is both a tax on employment and an inter-regional transfer of wealth. If it were truly an insurance program, premiums would be charged according to the likelihood a worker would make a claim.”
Global Trade: Should Saskatchewan be an Australia or a Tasmania?: The breadth of human collaboration has defined prosperity for eons.
Open trade drives prosperity by allowing specialised labour and the exchange of new ideas, a forward looking Premier should not be saying things like “he doesn’t understand how we could benefit” from foreign investment such as BHP Billiton’s investment in PotashCorp. Through the long lens of human history the answer is obvious.
Two Lies Make A Truth
“In the world of green and liberal politics, where they practice extreme environmentalism, nothing bears examination: two lies make a truth. We now learn that Bjorn Lomborg, who was never a climate skeptic, has magically disavowed that status. As the entire mockery of human induced global warming collapses, it is a convenient conversion.”
Featured News
Supply Chain Strains Could Cause Shortages and Hoarding
Supply chain problems, both international and domestic, could create shortages and hoarding, and make recent inflationary pressures even worse. Although problems with our ports and railways may beg policy solutions, the short-term response of everyday Canadians should...
New Book: Patients at Risk: Exposing Canada’s Health-care Crisis
CALGARY, AB, December 17, 2021 - The Frontier Centre for Public Policy has just released a new book, Patients at Risk: Exposing Canada’s Health-care Crisis written by Susan Martinuk. Susan is an accomplished, nationally recognized researcher and writer who has...
Anchors To Secure The Future
A broad consensus has formed around the idea that a plunge into the red is a frightening but unavoidable consequence of the economic downturn, and the fiscal laxity that preceded it. This would be much easier if new fiscal anchors, notably a specific debt-to-GDP ratio, had been firmly established after the books were balanced. An additional anchor, limiting program spending to a percentage of GDP, would further prevent Canada from sliding into a long-term pattern of deficits.
Rethinking the Notion of Public vs. Private
In his epic campaign for president, Mr. Obama promised to bridge the political divides in America. He can begin by assuring public school educators that private options are not an attack on the institution of public education. On the contrary, when done well, they expand and strengthen it.
Debate Over; It’s Freezing
Conserving energy, acting responsibly and cultivating technological advances are positive, whether global warming is as dangerous as the alarmists claim or not. But implementing ideas conjured up in environmentalists’ imaginations could bring massive economic consequences.
A Dwindling Herd
For decades, the Moose and other fraternal organizations have provided a social safety net for those not covered by government programs, assisting sick children, the disabled, the disadvantaged and the abused. With the economy unsettled and governments facing deficits, the role they play is crucial, says Lindsay Blackett, Alberta’s Minister of Culture and Community Spirit.
Manitobans’ Tax Burden Too Much For Tories
Manitoba’s Progressive Conservatives used the backdrop of a candy store and a small bag of gum balls Friday to showcase how little the Doer government is doing to lower the personal tax burden on Manitobans. Stefanson said as workers received their first paycheque of the new year the NDP’s tax cut is $1. “This is what it amounts to — a handful of gum balls,” she said. “Unbelievable.”
Practical Reasons Why Stimulus Spending Doesn’t Work
Tax cuts are a much preferable way to stimulate economic growth. Allowing companies to keep more of their revenue is an incentive to create more wealth and thus promote economic growth. Allowing individuals to spend more of their own money as they see fit helps the market more accurately understand demand signals then when the government just spends trying create demand out of nothing.
‘Atlas Shrugged’: From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years
The current economic strategy is right out of “Atlas Shrugged“: The more incompetent you are in business, the more handouts the politicians will bestow on you.
In The EU, Attempts To Blame The Market Should Be Resolutely Rejected
“Looking for ways out, we should — to use an analogy — strictly differentiate between fighting the fire and drafting fire protection legislation. A big increase in financial regulation, as is being proposed so often these days, will only prolong the recession. Growth in the global economy is falling rapidly, the banks have ceased to grant credit and confidence is ebbing. Radically changing regulation governing financial institutions in the midst of recession is counterproductive.”
Why Canada Needs A Balanced Budget
This past overspending hampers the ability for current governments to respond nimbly to economic challenges like those faced today. That is why, in its budget, the federal government should be careful to establish a fruitful and competitive economic climate for tomorrow. Growing the size and cost of government with deficit spending won’t accomplish this.