Welcome!

The fall issue of CSR is here, and this season we proudly present you with our 2008 student Essay Contest winners whose health care submissions won them cash prizes upwards of $1000! We have recently released the 2009 student Essay Contest topic, “Economic Freedom and Global Prosperity,” so it’s a great time to start researching your winning submission for next year! Check our website for full contest details.

We are also thrilled to bring you intriguing discussions about unintended consequences of minimum wage increases in our regular column, “Things Folks Know That Just Ain’t So,” as well as an explanation and analysis of the causes and consequences of inflation with Dr. Steven Horwitz in “Ask the Professor.” And if you’ve seen Michael Moore’s Sicko, consider our look at the hidden public costs of the Canadian single-payer health care system – what you learn might surprise you.

We would like to thank the Lotte & John Hecht Memorial Foundation for their generous support, which enables us to distribute Canadian Student Review at no cost to campuses across Canada.

In this issue:

Hot Topics!
We tackle the topics that students care about. Check out some of our new releases which explore economic freedom in Canada and the “greening” of the Ontario provincial government with their renewable energy initiative.

Reforming Medicare by Richard Norman
First-place essay contest winner Richard Norman investigates the reasons why our health care system is failing and offers his take on where to find solutions.

The Unseen Costs of Single-Payer Health Insurance by Marisha Warrington & Brett Skinner
Warrington and Skinner delve into the true cost of our “free” government-issued health coverage – all things considered, it appears to be rather expensive. Find out why.

Things Folks Know that Just Ain’t So by Courtenay Vermeulen
The unintended consequences of mandating minimum wages, or rather, minimum productivity requirements, are explored from an unconventional perspective on mandatory wage increases and poverty rates.

Ask the Professor with Prof. Steve Horwitz
You don’t have to be an economics major to ask the professor. Dr. Steve Horwitz, Charles A. Dana Professor of Economics at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, answers your pressing questions on inflation.