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1. Federal finances ‘careening downhill’ fast

   It has now been nearly a week since federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland released the fall economic statement (FES). After a suitable period of digestion, it’s still unclear where exactly federal finances are heading aside from very ...

2. Any credible plan to fix federal finances must address pre-COVID spending

   Indigenous and Northern Affairs represented the largest share of federal program spending growth. ...

3. Trudeau government’s fiscal ‘snapshot’ doubles down on uncertainty

   Appeared in the Vancouver Sun, July 10, 2020 According to the Oxford Dictionary, a snapshot is “a short description that gives you an idea of what something is like.” When the Trudeau government delivered its Economic and Fiscal Snapshot 2020 on Wednesday ...

4. Fiscal snapshot highlights deteriorating state of federal finances

   On Wednesday, the Trudeau government released a “ fiscal snapshot ” on the state of the economy and expectations for government finances for this year (2020/21). As expected, Finance Minister Bill Morneau confirmed a significant increase ...

5. Reality of government matters when assessing policy options

   In 1969, UCLA economist Harold Demsetz formalized an important concept in comparative economics—the Nirvana fallacy. His argument was that it was inappropriate, misleading and potentially counterproductive to compare hypothetical ideal ...

6. More bad news for federal finances—even worse if recession hits

   Appeared in the Brandon Sun, January 10, 2020 Before Christmas, the Trudeau government released its Economic and Fiscal Update, which demonstrated this government’s proclivity for marked increases in deficit-financed spending despite warning signs of a ...

7. Throne speech ignores realities of federal finances

   In the recent throne speech, the federal government announced that its short-term priorities include increasing spending on government programs and reducing taxes for Canadians. Worryingly, these priorities will be financed entirely by ...

8. Canada’s federal finances at risk—repeating mistakes of the past

   Appeared in the Daily Gleaner, August 29, 2019 The latest economic news from the United States foreshadows recession. Recently, the U.S. stock market had its worst day in 2019, plunging 800 points. The bond market is showing weakness with short-term ...