Op-Eds
By John Richards
A small jurisdiction in a monetary union, with a debt that exceeds 100 per cent of its gross domestic product. Its bonds enjoy more-or-less junk status. An election brings to power a left-wing government that replaces its incompetent conservative predecessor. Members of the new government and its union allies are divided: Should they raise taxes and cut spending – or default, leaving the financial mess for others to clean up? Central agencies had provided some financial relief, but then they cut it.
Greece in 2015? No. Saskatchewan in 1991.
The parallel is not perfect. If the province defaulted, its residents would still use the Canadian dollar. Presumably, the federal government would assume the…
Published in the Globe and Mail on April 21, 2015
By: Alexandre Laurin
Alexandre Laurin is director of research at the C.D. Howe Institute
Budgets, especially pre-election budgets, inevitably respond to short-term concerns and special interests. This budget is no exception. A prime example is the creation of a new fund to celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary dedicated to the renovation of community infrastructure across the country, or yet another tax credit targeted to seniors. Over time, though, successive annual budgets write much of our fiscal and economic history – how much the government spends, taxes, and accumulates debts, and how well (or badly) fiscal policy has supported long-term growth.
…Published in the Globe and Mail on April 21, 2015
By: Alexandre Laurin
Alexandre Laurin is director of research at the C.D. Howe Institute
Budgets, especially pre-election budgets, inevitably respond to short-term concerns and special interests. This budget is no exception. A prime example is the creation of a new fund to celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary dedicated to the renovation of community infrastructure across the country, or yet another tax credit targeted to seniors. Over time, though, successive annual budgets write much of our fiscal and economic history – how much the government spends, taxes, and accumulates debts, and how well (or badly) fiscal policy has supported long-term growth.
…Published in the National Post on April 16, 2015
By: William Robson
William Robson is is president of the C.D. Howe Institute and coauthor, with Colin Busby, of By the Numbers: The Fiscal Accountability of Canada’s Senior Governments, 2015.
Get past its circus-like quality, and the fuss over Senate expenses — Nancy Ruth’s airline breakfast; Mike Duffy’s principal residence — is healthy. Canadians have rising expectations about the stewardship of public money. Insisting that legislators justify their spending the same way auditors look at businesses and not-for-profit organizations makes eminent sense.
While the Senate is making headlines with dollar amounts in the tens, hundreds and…
Published in The Globe and Mail on January 27, 2015
By: Christopher Ragan
Christopher Ragan is an associate professor of economics at McGill University in Montreal and a research fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute in Toronto.
Massive declines in the world oil price are unambiguously bad for the Canadian economy. Such large shocks usually merit policy responses. While the Bank of Canada acted boldly last week to cut its benchmark interest rate, the federal Finance Department hesitates, apparently unsure of both its economic and political calculations.
The 55-per-cent decline in oil prices since last summer creates both losers and winners in Canada. Oil companies reduce their production, lay off…
