It's The Economy, Stupid

It’s not enough that Arizona grew its population by 50% over the past 14 years. It’s not enough that the economy is booming. No, the Governor wants more. She orchestrated a major tax incentive package to attract even more investments.…

Every time I visit the Miramichi (which is fairly regularly) I see the many signs entitled “Save the Miramichi!” I have discussed this in a previous blog but I’ll raise it again in light of new information. I just got…

Every time I think that Al Hogan over at the Times & Transcript can never ever surprise me again – he does. Consider his “We Say” segment this week about the resignation of Brenda Fowlie. Some of his quotes include:…

Don’t you think that NB Power is a textbook case for the privatization of the energy industry? I know the problems they had in Ontario and Alberta. I realize the shenanigans that went on in the U.S. I even realize…

It’s kind of funny but sooner or later things that seem to make sense to a few people make no sense to others. Take the telephone. When NBTel started to make serious inroads into offering home telephone services 70 years…

Ok. In a nutshell here is the core reason why New Brunswick’s will never boom without a fundamental shift in think on economic development. Consider what New Brunswick’s Premier has lobbied Ottawa for in recent years:1. Money for Lepreau2. Money…

As you know, my preoccupation involves the attraction of foreign investment to Atlantic Canada. My preference is for large, well-established multinational firms that are well-capitalized and have solid revenue and profit streams. But not always firms with these characteristics can…

It looks as if Nebraska has New Brunswick’s disease of conflicting signals in economic development. The Governor of Nebraska unveiled last week a new economic development plan with tax incentives for growing small businesses. He stated: “When I became governor,…

David Murrell, economics professor at the University of New Brunswick, said last week in the Telegraph-Journal that tax incentives should be used to attract new companies and investments. I am not opposed to this but I have a few what…

I shouldn’t be talking about housing prices after just buying an old house in downtown Moncton but Statistics Canada doesn’t consult me on their release dates for new stats. Last wee, StatsCan published its new housing price index for major…