I am the biggest supporter in Canada of an inspection-driven scrappage program, but I struggle
to understand the true efficacy of a C4C-style incentive program. Why pay someone $4,500 to scrap a vehicle that was going to come off the road anyway in a few months? If it wasn’t going to be scrapped for a few years, then why destroy a product that still has value? I worry about the unintended effects of the current program.
Role of Government
Ricardian Equivalence Makes Comeback
The Ricardian chatter signals policy makers’ and economists’ nagging fear that fiscal stimulus will fall flat or even backfire, undermining the global recovery before it has a chance to blossom.
Short Term Gain For Long Term Pain
Obama presents change as progress, but what is the reality? He has managed to invert the old adage that to become fit and healthy exercise involves short-term pain for long-term gain. His approach and policies are creating short-term gain for long-term pain.
The Shining Jurisdiction on the Economic Hill: Saskatchewan
After two decades of relatively restrained economic management, Saskatchewan’s political culture is not what stereotypes may tell us.
Featured News
Military Conquest is Meaningless Without True Social Renewal
The hasty, defeatist and craven withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces from Afghanistan in August has compelled the so-called “civilized” Western nations and their leaders to confront the failures and errors of the past 20 years, which resemble those of earlier conflicts....
What Life Looks Like Outside COVID-19 Hysteria
Travel and work over the past two years have brought me to many different jurisdictions. What continues to strike me is the way the responses to COVID-19 have been varied, arbitrary and often draconian. I look back at Canada and see raging debates over mask mandates,...
July 1984: When life in NZ turned upside down
A snap election called late at night, followed by a change in government, was to alter the political landscape of New Zealand forever. This time 20 years ago New Zealand realised it was in for a change of Government. It had no idea how big that change would be.
New Brunswick Rejects Gov’t Car Insurance
New Brunswick rejects a move to public car insurance after reports underestimated the cost of setting up a government-owned insurance corporation, low-balled the average premium and contained several significant flaws.
Putin’s Game
Though Russian President Vladimir Putin has sometimes ruled as an autocrat — clamping down on the media, skewing elections and renationalizing property — he has also been a staunch advocate of reform whose policies have contributed to Russia’s economic growth of 38 percent over the last five years
Ruth Richardson in Wonderland
Pundits talk about an “issueless” election campaign, but revisiting New Zealand’s experience indicates there is much to be done in Canada.
Ruth Richardson, NZ Finance Minister 1990-93
Ruth Richardson, former New Zealand finance minister discusses the criteria for fiscally responsible government and the frontier of public policy (competitive delivery, transparency, flat taxes)
Europe’s voters opt for paralysis and stagnation
Older Europeans are understandably more interested in preserving their comfortable lifestyles and living off the fat accumulated in the golden years of postwar growth, rather than creating the conditions for dynamic economies in the future.
Hidden deficit growing
Various developments put pressure on Manitoba’s budget, pushing the province towards deficit..
MTS and Crown Corporation Folklore
Crown corporations bring cheap telephone prices, cheap electricity and cheap auto insurance. But these advantages are an illusion.
The Honourable Sir Richard Prebble
A man who sat at the cabinet table during New Zealand’s seminal reforms in governance looks back at what was accomplished and discusses what has happened since.