Even if it’s a good punchline for late-night comedians, there is nothing inconsistent about building pipelines while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Stranding Canadian oil by blocking pipelines is damaging to both the energy industry and the Canadian economy as a whole. Moreover, it is an ineffective way to reduce our carbon emissions—a price on carbon is the most economically efficient policy tool we have.
By internalizing greenhouse gas externalities in economy-wide decisions, carbon pricing ensures that everyone considers their incremental impact on the global climate. It allocates emission reductions to the activities with the so-called lowest cost of abatement. If oil can be economically produced while facing a carbon…
The Bank of Canada announced on Wednesday that it was holding its overnight rate target constant at 1.75 per cent. Many analysts had been predicting a lowering of the rate since at least Oct. 30, when the bank also held the rate steady and the U.S. Federal Funds Rate dropped a quarter percentage point.
A recent Reuters poll reports that a majority of forecasters now expect the Canadian central bank to hold its rate constant right through the end of 2020. That will, of course, depend on the course of inflation.
In 2018, the bank was engaged in a tightening cycle and seemed to be on a course toward its long-run “neutral” rate in the range of 2.25 per cent to 3.25 per cent (compatible with an economy at full…
Canada’s investment advisory industry has evolved through consolidation and new products to meet the needs of a more demanding and active investing public over the past two decades. Unfortunately, its regulatory structure has not kept pace. Overlapping regulatory organizations and outdated rules are limiting innovation and efficiency.
Unlike sectors in which industry must petition government agencies for regulatory relief, companies in the investment and mutual-fund industry can propose a better solution for the sector and Canadian investors. And as I argue in a recent C.D. Howe Institute report, the time is ripe for a merger.
First, a little background. The bulk of the financial advice industry operates through dealer…
