I have been saying for awhile now that the most important role of small business in a local economy is to foster competitive and dynamic local industries. Professional services is an excellent example of this. If a place…
Continue ReadingFederal austerity will hit hardest in places like New Brunswick
Did you know that New Brunswick is considerably more dependent on the old age security (OAS) program than Canada as a whole? NB generates about 1.9 percent of national employment income but receives 2.7 percent of the national OAS distribution.…
Continue ReadingRebuilding New Brunswick
I was struck by how many times David Alward used the term ‘rebuild’ in his SOTP address last week (reconstruction en française). It seems to me that the Premier and his advisers are trying to impress upon people the…
Continue ReadingThe Costco effect
During my visit to Freddy last week several people asked me about the Costco effect. I also read about local gas retailers in the Freddy area demanding the government set a minimum price for gas as Costco had eaten into…
Continue ReadingShould Maritimers pay more in taxes than Albertans? – Postscript
For anybody looking to take a strip off me for suggesting some kind of provincial personal tax harmonization – put away the pitchfork – I am not calling for this. What I am saying is that in my opinion the…
Continue ReadingDrowning in debt
There is a good article in the TJ today about the high debt load the average Canadian family faces these days. This piled on top of public debt and it would take decades and decades of determined effort to pay…
Continue ReadingShedding historical baggage: Hugh John edition
Struggle for a dollar, scuffle for a dime Step out from the past and try to hold the line So how come history takes such a long, long time When you’re waiting for a miracle -Bruce Cockburn (Waiting for a…
Continue ReadingWas Lenin the step father of modern capitalism?
How’s that for a provocative title? We live in a 140 character world so have at it. I just finished an Ideas podcast where the speaker argued that the fear of communism led to the green revolution in agriculture as the wealthy…
Continue ReadingNo Skin in the Game: The Fragilistas
I really like the economist Nassim Taleb who wrote two very popular books Fooled By Randomness and The Black Swan. He has a new book coming out and he spoke on EconTalk recently about it. There is a transcript…
Continue ReadingWelfare state economies: The 1 percent (and the 20 percent)
I have following the Occupy movement with interest – I wrote a couple of columns looking at its various contours – with a focus on New Brunswick but it is interesting to get the British view on this. I have…
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