Trade barriers among provinces in Canada are a problem. Canada has signed trade agreements with foreign countries like the U.S. and regions like the European Union. Yet, trade barriers still exist in Canada even though countries like Germany or Belgium don’t have...
Economy
Beijing’s Minions Don’t Belong on Canadian Stock Exchanges
The Chinese economy is growing and surpassing the U.S. economy in size. That stature, with its consequent soft and hard power, means opposition to the Communist Party of China (CPC) regime needs to be multilateral. No matter how much unipolarity the U.S. has enjoyed...
Manitoba Trade with the U.S.: The Need to Strengthen Relations with the Midwest
Trade is essential for Manitoba’s economy. International exports and imports represented 46.4 per cent of GDP for Manitoba in 2018. With a significant goods-related industry estimated at 26.9 per cent of GDP in 2019, Manitoba needs to have strong trading partners to...
Let a Thousand Capital Markets Bloom
Alarm bells ought to be ringing in Canada. Business, industrial and foreign direct investment have performed pitifully over the past decade, with no reason to believe there will be a turnaround any time soon. As noted by Steven Globerman of Western Washington...
Featured News
Policy Restrictions have Caused the Housing Crisis
The choice we face is clear: a modest expansion of greenfield development or greater housing poverty For 18 years, I have been monitoring international housing affordability, as author or co-author of the Demographia Housing Affordability series. The latest...
Leaders on the Frontier | So Much More We Can Be with the Hon. Grant Devine, Premier of Saskatchewan 1982-1991
The April 1982 Saskatchewan election proved to be a major turning point in the province's history. Over its nine years in office, the Devine government commenced and completed numerous policy initiatives in spite of considerable challenges including two recessions. ...
Event: Meeting the Challenge of Western Separation
Nov 15 - 16, 2019 Red Deer, AB 7th Essentials of Freedom Conference Meeting the Challenge of Western Separation Register here.
Provincial Trade Barriers Shoot Canadians in the Foot
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...
How Not to Create Jobs
Corporate welfare handouts are a policy staple of politicians of all stripes. Liberals who mistakenly think government spending is the driver of economic growth love handing out free cash to claim they are “creating jobs.” Conservatives say they are against corporate...
Unionize the Gig Economy? That’s a Bad Idea
The current push for unionization among some food couriers at Foodora Canada, and also among hundreds of Uber drivers in Canada, will ultimately do more harm than good for workers in the “gig economy.” The reason is that the drive for unionization is a drive for...
Fully Automated Luxury Communism Is the Capitalism Communists Allege to Hate
Since the publication of Fully Automated Luxury Communism in 2018, a manifesto by Aaron Bastani, millennials across Canada and the United States have embraced a new Marxism for the 21st Century. A new millennial socialism based on the concept of a post-scarcity...
Modern Monetary Theory: A Fairy Tale for Social Engineers
Left to their own devices, politicos every now and then come up with a theory that allows them to promise free lunches. Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) is all the rage now in the United States and Canada among starry-eyed social engineers who see no limits to their...
Progressives’ Attempt to Limit Pension Ownership Will Hurt Everyone
In recent days, a controversy flared up, or was orchestrated, when it came to light that some Canadian pension and other institutional investment funds may have owned shares in an American prison-management company called GEO, and another one called CoreCivic. These...
Economic Lessons from Milton Friedman
Were he still alive today, Milton Friedman would celebrate his 107th birthday on July 31. An intellectual giant, his ideas played a significant role in making the world a freer and more prosperous place – from driving the elimination of military conscription in the...
Should the Government be a Co-owner of your house?
Ottawa will soon be participating in the property bubble in a direct, equity-owning way through its new First Time Home Buyer plan. Since the onset of the post-war period, it has been Canadian federal government policy to seek to help low income or dubiously...