Published in the Financial Post.
With the recent wrap-up of Ottawa’s month-long public consultation on levying tariffs on electrical vehicles (EVs) made in China, let’s paraphrase a story Nobel Prize-winner Paul Krugman once used to explain the often under-appreciated benefits of free trade:
Consider a Canadian entrepreneur who starts a new business that uses secret technology to transform Canadian lumber and canola into affordable EVs. She is lauded as a champion of industry for her innovative spirit and commitment to Net Zero. But a suspicious reporter discovers that what she is really doing is exporting Canadian-made lumber and canola and using the proceeds to purchase Chinese-made EVs. Sentiment turns sharply…
Ed Waitzer - Scammers can now use bankruptcy to dodge securities regulators’ fines. Change is needed
Published in The Globe and Mail.
Insolvency laws in Canada (as in the United States, Britain and Australia) have long enshrined the principle that bankruptcy should not assist dishonest debtors. But the Supreme Court of Canada recently determined that fraudsters are able to avoid regulatory penalties from provincial securities commissions by declaring themselves bankrupt.
It is disappointing to have a Supreme Court decision that allows swindlers to insulate themselves from key sanctions – ones that serve to deter wrongful conduct. This cries out for legislative reform.
First, though, how did this happen?
In 2014 the B.C. Securities Commission found Thalbinder Singh Poonian and Shailu Poonian guilty of fraudulent…
Published in The Globe and Mail.
Since 1985, U.S. labour productivity has grown by roughly 100 per cent. In sharp contrast, labour productivity in Canada grew by only 40 per cent. Canadian workers are now only 70 per cent as productive as U.S. workers. And we’re not just falling behind the U.S. – the growth rate of our productivity is well below that of the U.K., Germany and France.
Economists have long been aware of our productivity malaise, but we need a broader audience. Public support can help solve the problem, and this requires showing Canadians how productivity gains improve their lives.
To see the benefits of higher productivity, consider the following example: Suppose a firm with 100 workers produces 100…
