The debate about capitalism has been continuous since the days of Adam Smith but every few decades it comes to a head. In the late 19th Century, capitalists like Carnegie argued they needed protection from British companies to create home…
Continue ReadingPlanting the seeds of economic development
There is an excellent article in the Economist this week about the forestry industry in Finland. It includes interesting stories about the use of technology in the sector (driverless harvesting machines managed by mobile-phone apps), sustainability (they plant 20% more…
Continue ReadingEconomic Development: Seeking small but sweet opportunities
One of my main preoccupations these days is the need for communities and governments to ‘think small’ when it comes to economic development planning. From proactively attracting tourism operators to developing language industries, I think we could have several hundred…
Continue ReadingImmigration: A fact-based conversation
After we presented the new immigration strategy to Moncton Council earlier this week I received several messages and emails from folks around the region and beyond. Their questions revolved basically around three issues: 1) Why do we need more immigrants…
Continue ReadingA chance to see Daniel Isenberg’s vision of a scale up world
In 2012 I took a course at Harvard University called Innovation and Economic Development. A professor from Babson College named Daniel Isenberg came in and did a talk on what he was calling “scale-ups”. He ended up found a bit of…
Continue ReadingHow do you say “lost opportunity” in French?
If you were to ask other Canadians what were the defining characteristics of New Brunswick they would probably say things like maple syrup, salmon, lots of trees, maybe lobsters. One of the most unique attributes of New Brunswick, however –…
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