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1. Alberta’s debt may eclipse 100 per cent of GDP

   Up until 2016/17, the Government of Alberta had no net debt. That is, its financial assets (such as the Heritage Fund) were greater than its liabilities. The province burned through $35 billion of financial assets beginning in 2008/09, ...

2. Grasping Alberta's budget problems

   Appeared in the Calgary Herald The new Alberta government has delayed introducing a budget until the fall, so MLAs will have plenty of time to think about how they’ll collect and spend Albertans’ money. Thus, to properly manage the estimated $48.4 billion ...

3. Spending cuts, not tax hikes, key to balancing the books in Alberta

   In Alberta, to cushion the blow from falling revenues, some claim higher taxes will balance the books. How soon we forget. Alberta tried that in the late 1980s. It didn’t work. It wasn’t until the 1990s, when Alberta got serious about ...

4. Does Alberta need a sales tax?

   Appeared in the Calgary Herald, Jan 17, 2015 With oil prices plunging and provincial resource revenues expected to drop, Alberta’s red ink will rise. In response, Premier Jim Prentice has floated the notion of a provincial sales tax and/or hikes in other ...

5. Alberta's opaque budget represents a failure to learn from the past

     If you listen to Alberta Finance Minister Doug Horner, the province's public finances are under control.  The government's budget imposes no new taxes, spending growth has been moderated, and Alberta is running an operational budget surplus ...

6. Not your mother's budget surplus

   Appeared in the Calgary Herald When apologists for the provincial government's new borrowing binge defend it on the grounds that private sector companies borrow money for capital expenses so why not have the Alberta government do the same? their ...

7. Don't let mythical thinking on taxes mess up Alberta

   Appeared in the Calgary Herald As Albertans approach another provincial budget, the usual fables about Alberta's finances often crop up. To inoculate ourselves in advance, let's ponder two myths. Myth Number One: Alberta's wealth is a ...

8. Alberta throws Jim Dinning's reforms overboard

   Appeared in the National Post and Calgary Herald For those who don’t normally read budget documents, here’s what the Alberta government just did in its 2013 budget: they abandoned the sensible budget and financial framework that former Progressive ...

9. Why Alberta is broke

   Appeared in the National Post and Calgary Herald The red-ink budgets that have engulfed Alberta since the last recession—Alberta’s Finance Minister Doug Horner just announced this year’s deficit could hit $4-billion— are not accidental. Such red ink is ...

10. Alberta's $22-billion Lost Opportunity

    Alberta's $22-Billion Lost Opportunity calculates the economic cost of the province's inability to hold government spending to the rate of inflation plus population growth. The report examines the history of Alberta budgets starting in fiscal ...