Every 10 years or so, the government of Ontario finds it necessary to freeze or cut electricity prices because the costs of an ambitious energy policy prove to be politically unacceptable. This leaves every generation of electricity customers paying for the cost of a failed experiment from a previous generation. We should learn from this experience and implement a governance model for the sector that reviews and mitigates costs before a policy is adopted, not after.
In 1993, the government froze prices because the costs of Ontario Hydro’s massive nuclear expansion were leading to double-digit rate increases. In 2002, the government froze prices because the electricity market opening resulted in higher and more volatile prices. In…
You have probably heard of bitcoin. You might have even heard about its underlying technology, the blockchain. What you may not have realized is that it is not bitcoin that will change our lives, but other applications of blockchain technology in areas such as payments, contracts and the provision of government services.
Blockchain technology in its simplest form allows transactions to occur between individuals and institutions without the need for a third party. This would entail a big change for financial services firms. Since the Renaissance period, they have relied on a double-entry bookkeeping system whereby each transaction requires a debit on the asset side and a credit on the liability side. This form of record-keeping…
No one likes the word deficit. In government finance it means you spend more than what you raise in revenue. And in trade it means you import more than you export. U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly pointed to widening trade deficits with countries such as China and Mexico as proof positive that his predecessors have made bad trade deals.
But it is misleading to think of trade deficits in that way. At the very least, the reality is far more nuanced.
First, imports have a beneficial impact. More countries selling to the U.S., or Canada, means more affordable goods for consumers, which has helped boost what’s called the “C” variable — consumer spending. In the U.S., in fact, if we remove food and energy from the…
