Graph of the Week: Business Investment Per Worker Falls 23 Percent Below 2014 Peak
Business investment is essential to productivity, wages and Canadians’ living standards. Alarmingly, investment has lagged growth in the workforce for a decade. Another fall in the third quarter of 2024 left real investment per available worker 23 percent below its 2014 peak. A two-month GST “holiday” is the latest example of fiscal policies that boost […] Public Sector Employment Balloons Compared to Private Sector
Between 2019 and 2023, Canada’s public sector employment grew at more than twice the rate of the private sector, increasing by 13 percent compared to just 5.9 percent. This shift added around half a million public sector jobs, with public administration as the largest contributor, raising the public sector’s share of total employment from 19.7 […] Charles Eagan – A Path to Trusted AI
From: Charles EaganTo: AI observersDate: November 11, 2024 Re: A Path to Trusted AI Artificial Intelligence (AI) has infiltrated our lives for decades, but since the public launch of ChatGPT showcasing generative AI in 2022, society has faced unprecedented technological evolution. With digital technology already a constant part of our lives, AI has the potential to […] Lawrence Herman – Behold dairy lobby’s power, as Bloc holds Liberals hostage over supply management
Published in the Globe and Mail.
There’s something wrong when a narrow interest group can dominate Canadian trade policy. That’s exactly what has happened in the case of the dairy industry, pushing its protectionist agenda on Canadians, not only in getting an ill-considered and self-serving piece of legislation to sail through the House of Commons but in having the Bloc Québécois make final enactment of Bill C-282 a red line for supporting the minority Trudeau government.
Bill C-282 is a Bloc private member’s bill that would exempt the supply managed dairy sector (as well as poultry and eggs) from all future trade negotiations. Even though the bill has already passed the House and is now in the Senate, Bloc Leader Yves-…
Graph of the Week: Canadian AI VC Investments Surpass $12.5B, Led by Finance, IT, and Business Services
Graph of the Week is a new series from the C.D. Howe Institute’s Graphic Intelligence that presents valuable and easily digestible data. Each Monday we unveil one new captivating chart or graph with interesting insights, explaining it in two-to-three sentences. Dive into the data with us.Over the past six years, more than US$12.5 billion in […] Canada’s Productivity Problem with Michelle Alexopoulos and Jeremy Kronick
Since the mid-1980s, US labour productivity has grown by about 100 percent. But in Canada, it’s only grown by roughly 40 percent. Lower productivity means the economy grows more slowly — and that means Canadians’ paychecks grow more slowly as well. Why is Canada less productive? And what can be done about it? Michael Hainsworth […] Canada’s Productivity Problem with Michelle Alexopoulos and Jeremy Kronick
Since the mid-1980s, US labour productivity has grown by about 100 percent. But in Canada, it’s only grown by roughly 40 percent. Lower productivity means the economy grows more slowly — and that means Canadians’ paychecks grow more slowly as well.
Why is Canada less productive? And what can be done about it? Michael Hainsworth speaks with the University of Toronto’s Michelle Alexopoulos and the C.D. Howe Institute’s Jeremy Kronick to get answers.
Grant Bishop – We need repeal, or a provincial challenge, to hasty and overbroad new Competition Act greenwashing rule
From: Grant BishopTo: François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry of Canada, cc: Matthew Boswell, Commissioner of Competition; Arif Virani, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada; provincial attorneys generalDate: September 20, 2024Re: We need repeal, or a provincial challenge, to hasty and overbroad new Competition Act greenwashing rule Since the blowback to […] David Jones – Why we need dynamic pricing for Oasis concert tickets (and other items, too)
Published in The Globe and Mail
A fortnight ago, in response to huge demand, ticket prices surged for the 1990s Britpop band Oasis’s long-awaited reunion tour across Britain and Ireland.
Dynamic pricing – the practice of allowing prices to fluctuate in response to changes in market conditions – is rarely a fan’s favourite. Just ask Wendy’s customers about the chain’s previous plans to introduce it in 2025. But step back and we’ll see that dynamic pricing – when used in the right context and appropriately implemented – fulfills an important role.
If a good or service is in short supply, allowing the price to rise can naturally identify who wants it the most, similar to an auction. It narrows the field of buyers to those…
Graph of the Week: Canada’s Declining Investment – A Decade of Missed Opportunity
Graph of the Week is a new series from the C.D. Howe Institute’s Graphic Intelligence that presents valuable and easily digestible data. Each Monday we unveil one new captivating chart or graph with interesting insights, explaining it in two-to-three sentences. Dive into the data with us.Business investment in capital other than housing – buildings and […] Underequipped: How Weak Capital Investment Hurts Canadian Prosperity and What to Do about It
Business investment in Canada has been so weak since 2015 that capital per worker is falling. A longstanding gap between investment per available worker in Canada compared to the United States and other OECD countries narrowed from the late 1990s through the early 2010s, but has since widened to a chasm. In 2024, Canadian workers […] Don Wright – Some Basic Living Standard Arithmetic for Governments
To: Canadians concerned about prosperity From: Don Wright Date: September 4, 2024Re: Some Basic Living Standard Arithmetic for Governments Governments often talk about “creating jobs,” but what they really do is choose some jobs at the expense of others. With their myriad spending, taxing and regulatory decisions, all governments try to direct job growth to different sectors […]