Op-Eds
Published in the Globe and Mail on May 5, 2014
By Christopher Ragan
Christopher Ragan is an associate professor of economics at McGill University and is a Research Fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute.
In 1969, Prime Minister Lester Pearson recommended that rich countries commit 0.7 per cent of their national income to foreign aid, or Official Development Assistance (ODA). The next year, this commitment was formally adopted by the United Nations and has been re-affirmed by the rich countries many times since.
Canada and most other rich countries have never come close to achieving this commitment. Last year, for example, Canada’s total spending on ODA, most of which is controlled by the…
Published in the Globe and Mail on April 29, 2014
By Lawrence Herman
Lawrence L. Herman, Herman & Associates, Toronto, is an international lawyer and Senior Fellow at the C. D. Howe Institute.
Approval of Keystone XL suffers delay after delay. Whether one is for or against, it’s obvious the project has become hostage to the unpredictable forces of American politics.
It’s hard to get a handle on how the project is being evaluated by the Obama administration. Is it environmental factors that count, including arguments over Alberta’s oil sands, or is it energy security or American jobs that are critical?
Both TransCanada, as the pipeline’s proponent, and the Canadian…
By John Richards
Published in the Globe and Mail on January 9, 2014
Last Sunday, Bangladesh elected a new government. Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League were re-elected. Quite reasonably, three quarters of the electorate chose not to vote.
Many abstained because the election was a foregone conclusion. Candidates representing the Awami League won over half the ridings by acclamation. The BNP, the major opposition party, refused to participate because Sheikh Hasina had eliminated the “caretaker government”, an arrangement that had previously assured a measure of neutrality in administering elections. Furthermore, Hasina had banned from participation the BNP’s electoral ally, Jamaat-e-Islami. An Islamist party, it was…
Published in the Globe and Mail on November 26, 2013
By Christopher Ragan
Economists see the world differently than business people and politicians. This is never more evident than in discussions about the benefits of freer trade.
Here’s a suggestion for an educational evening: Invite an economist, a businessman and a politician for dinner and ask them if Canada would benefit by unilaterally reducing its tariffs on imported cheese or automobiles or hundreds of other products. The businessman will likely say it is pointless unless it improves Canadian business prospects. The politician will say that Canada shouldn’t make such a “concession” without other countries doing the same.
The economist will view these…
Published in the Globe and Mail on June 25, 2013
By Lawrence Herman
Except when Canada was pursuing the free-trade agreement with the United States almost 30 years ago, there’s never been a time when the country’s trade negotiating agenda has been so highly charged.
Not only are the Canada-European Union trade negotiations at a critical stage, there’s the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the continuing Canada-U.S. Beyond the Border (and regulatory co-operation) initiative and a host of ongoing bilateral trade discussions.
With all of these files on the go, one would expect more effective public engagement by the federal government to better inform and educate the public about what’s at stake.
Yet…
