Informed views on some complex socio-economic issues
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Carney brings great solutions, but is he misdiagnosing the problem?
This was published in the Globe and Mail on Nov. 26, 2025 Mark Carney’s economic agenda seeks to promote private investment by building infrastructure and providing more support to business – at least according to his speeches and the most recent budget. This approach echoes Stephen Harper’s 2006 strategy and differs markedly from Justin Trudeau’s vision of building a
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Should Carney, the businessman, really run Canada like a business?
This article was published in the Globe and Mail on October 30th, 2025 As Prime Minister, Mark Carney has adopted the language of the private sector – talking up investments in targeted industries, housing construction, export marketing and public work force reductions. Commentators have said he is running the government like a CEO and will run Canada like a business.
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How to reduce youth unemployment
This article was published in the Globe and Mail on October 16th 2025 Last Friday, labour-force statistics showed the unemployment rate held steady at 7.1 per cent in September and the youth jobless rate rose to 14.7 per cent. The difficulty young Canadians face in finding jobs drew considerable attention this summer. Commentators noted it was the
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Improving productivity and bargaining power only sure way to reduce cost of living
Published in the Globe and Mail on August 28th Like his promise to get a good trade deal with the U.S., Prime Minister Mark Carney’s promise to bring down the cost of living for Canadians may be more difficult to achieve than he suggested during the election campaign. Any action to bring prices down would create more harm
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We can make globalization great again
Published in the Globe and Mail on August 21st U.S. tariffs, manufacturing subsidies, and anti-immigration and isolationist policies reflect a population discontent with trade and globalization that has been growing since the financial crisis of 2008. While the U.S. government may be the loudest voice against globalization, similar nationalistic policies can be seen in many other countries,
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A better way to help the working poor
This article was published in Policy Options on June 25, 2025: https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/june-2025/minimum-wage-alternatives/ Minimum wages are going up – Quebec raised its rate on May 1 and Ontario and British Columbia followed on June 1. Some see the increases as insufficient to meet current costs of living while others argue they are too costly and will lead to massive layoffs.
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Land shouldn’t be treated like any other property
This articles was published in the Globe and Mail on March 25, 2025 A new poll shows that the Trump psychodrama has replaced housing affordability as the top concern of Canadians. But housing problems have not disappeared. The housing crisis may even be exacerbated by the trade war and will surely be a big issue in this
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It is time to improve our countercyclical fiscal support
This article (with a different title) was published in the Globe and Mail on March 6, 2025 Federal and provincial governments plan to introduce pandemic-style measures to support businesses and workers if the U.S. administration carries out its tariff threats. Experience with past recessions suggests there is a risk this support may come too late
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Perhaps an economic union with the U.S. is not a bad idea after all
This article was published in the Globe and Mail on January 23, 2025 Canadians younger than 55 do not have a deep emotional attachment to Canada, according to an Angus Reid survey, and their attachment is conditional on the country providing a good standard of living. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (and Jean Chrétien before him) were
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Disaster costs are overwhelming private insurance. We need a national public insurer
This article was published in the Globe& Mail on January 13, 2025 The devastating wildfires around Los Angeles have caused more than US$100-billion in damages based on some estimates. These losses and increases in the scale and frequency of severe weather damage from hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding and forest fires will lead more insurers to pull back. Companies
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