Bill Robson on BNN – The economics of carbon pricing

A C.D. Howe report suggests that Ottawa should push ahead with its plans for a carbon tax and distribute the revenues back to residents despite a growing number of provinces vowing to fight the tax. Bill Robson, president and CEO of the C.D. Howe Institute, joins BNN Bloomberg to explain.

Without easy retail access to cannabis, the black market will thrive – Globe and Mail Op-Ed

On Oct. 17, Canada will be the second country in the world to have fully legalized production and retail distribution of recreational marijuana. There will be considerable international interest in the Canadian experiment, in order to understand what works and what does not. One of the prime objectives of legalization was to stamp out the black market. However, it is now clear that this is extremely unlikely. Both federal and different provincial governments should accept responsibility for this.

Black markets exist if there is insufficient legal supply or if they can offer comparable goods at lower cost. Based on available data on the number of licensed producers and medical-marijuana production and inventory levels, we estimate…

Cannabis Countdown: Estimating the Size of Illegal Markets and Lost Tax Revenue Post-Legalization

Ten years on, few lessons learned from the global financial crisis – Globe and Mail Op-Ed

It’s been a decade since the collapse of Lehman Brothers sparked the 2008-09 global financial crisis and recession. The global economy is finally performing at a robust level, with solid output and employment growth in many regions and interest rates generally on the rise toward more normal levels. The acute pain felt during the financial crisis, and the protracted period of recovery, should have encouraged policy-makers and their voters to take meaningful steps to avoid a repeat performance. But have lessons been learned?

One positive outcome was the innovative application of monetary policy. Central banks were the reliable backbone of the policy response to the financial crisis; exceptional and prolonged monetary stimulus and…

Denis Meunier – Why Is Canada Still The World’s Money Laundering Pawn?

Daniel Schwanen – NAFTA: The Case for More Competition in the Dairy Market

Hidden Beneficial Ownership and Control: Canada as a Pawn in the Global Game of Money Laundering

Ian Irvine – More Action Needed on the Cannabis File

Doug Ford almost got it right on cannabis – Globe and Mail Op-Ed

Ontario Premier Doug Ford should be congratulated for improving Ontario’s marijuana market structure last week. He decided to privatize the retailing of marijuana in the province. That decision represents a reversal of the previous government’s choice to place retailing in the hands of a high-cost government monopoly. This is good news.

However, he also decided to leave a government agency front and centre in the wholesaling of cannabis. Having gone some way to free up entrepreneurial energies and create an expansive marketplace, he balked at the idea that this market could function well without a monopsony, or a single buyer, at its core.

For the benefit of Ontarians, the government should go further, and, in particular…

Wyonch, Omran – The Fallacy of Buck-a-Beer

Benjamin Dachis – City of Vancouver Plans to Worsen Housing Affordability with Increased Fees on Developers

Rosalie Wyonch – Don’t Overtax Our Pot Producers