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1. Canada’s COVID performance on key measures among worst in developed world

   Canada has the seventh-worst “case fatality rate” among advanced countries. ...

2. COVID-19 case counts, mortality rates vary widely across developed world

   Each additional hospital bed (per 1,000 people) was associated with 31.5 fewer COVID-19 deaths per million. ...

3. COVID-related spending increases threaten future economic growth

   Appeared in the Edmonton Sun, November 4, 2020 The COVID pandemic has sparked increased government spending worldwide including here at home. Many countries have introduced substantial fiscal packages with direct household income supports, loans, ...

4. Government wages and employee numbers drive municipal spending across Canada

   Appeared in the Ottawa Sun, October 7, 2020 Over the last two decades, in an apparent contradiction, municipalities across Canada have increased spending and employment while claiming they are fiscally challenged. They typically run surpluses for their ...

5. COVID underscores problems with government intervention

   Appeared in the Vancouver Province, August 5, 2020 Some economists justify government intervention by citing “market failure”—that is, the failure of the free market and price system to allocate resources efficiently. In other words, under certain ...

6. The new normal—continued economic growth, not secular stagnation

   Appeared in the Moncton Times & Transcript, September 28, 2019 The single biggest determinant of long-term economic wellbeing is the rate of economic growth. The industrial era, since the early 19th century, has seen powerful economic growth and ...

7. Don’t believe doomsday predictions about a ‘tech-driven’ employment apocalypse

   Appeared in the National Post, July 10, 2019 Media reports often paint a dire picture of technological change and automation, spawning a future world of massive job loss and less employment. And yet, a labour shortage—not a glut due to mass unemployment ...

8. Warning: the Chinese economy may soon run out of steam

   Appeared in The Hill, December 5, 2018 At the recent G20 Summit in Buenos Aires, President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping made minor progress in easing trade tensions between the two countries, including postponing a scheduled tariff hike on Chinese ...

9. The Trudeau and Ford governments—two fiscal statements, one debt problem

   Appeared in the National Newswatch, November 14, 2018 Both the Ford government in Ontario and the Trudeau government in Ottawa will release their fall fiscal and economic statements this month. Despite a tendency to compartmentalize these separate events, ...

10. Government debt and the next recession

    Appeared in the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal, October 25, 2018 News from Canada’s fiscal front is not good. Government deficit and debt numbers are rising due to accounting changes made to better reflect the true nature of government liabilities. ...