Le Systemiste

Category: Uncategorized

  • 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.…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • The source of populism isn’t necessarily economics

    (Published in the Globe and Mail on January 8th, 2025) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who announced his resignation this week, was pushed out for the same reason Donald Trump was again elected as U.S. president: growing populist discontent. And this goes beyond North America. Populist forces have recently had electoral successes in many other countries,…

  • One does not simply gut the public service. Here’s the proper way to make cuts

    This article was published in the Globe and Mail on Dec. 19, 2024 In the United States, Tesla’s Elon Musk will soon be co-heading the new Department of Government Efficiency with the goal of slashing federal spending. While we likely won’t have a flashy tycoon in such a role in Canada, similar cuts loom here.…

  • The federal government did not meet a fiscal guardrail. So what?

    This article was published in the Globe and Mail on Dec. 16th, 2024 Monday’s fall economic statement put the federal deficit for the last fiscal year at $61.9-billion. As a result, the federal government did not meet one of its fiscal guardrails. So what? Why are so many people up in arms that the government…

  • Trump is an opportunity for Ottawa to push politically difficult, but vital, policies

    (This article was published in the Globe and Mail on Nov. 21st, 2024 Most analysts are concerned about the negative impact U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s economic policies, especially those on trade, could have on Canada. But there are also opportunities. We can turn the Trump election and the 2026 renegotiation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement…

  • A new immigration challenge for Canada

    This article was published in the Globe and Mail on November 6, 2024 Immigration was a key issue in the U.S. election campaign, and with both Democrats and Republicans campaigning on taking a tougher stand at the border, we should expect the United States to clamp down on the number of immigrants it allows in.…