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1. Alberta’s decline is a chance for other Western provinces

   Appeared in the Calgary Herald In its recent Speech from the Throne, the new Alberta government reiterated its plans to make life more expensive in Alberta. Over time, to recap: The new NDP government will a) raise business income tax by 20 per cent (to ...

2. Some Alberta economic facts of life

   Appeared in the Calgary Herald In a famous explanation of why voters choose the governments they do, a 1990s-era adviser to Bill Clinton remarked, “It’s the economy, stupid.” That’s not wholly accurate; voters toss parties out (and vote parties in) on ...

3. Alberta already tried to diversify her economy—and failed

   Appeared in the Calgary Herald With the price of oil plunging to below $50 per barrel and the outlook for Alberta’s economy and provincial budget revenues falling in tandem, an oft-heard piece of advice is being recycled: Alberta should diversify its ...

4. The Alberta government's $2-billion leap back into corporate welfare

   Appeared in the Financial Post Alberta’s provincial government has provided plenty of political theatre as of late, with, as I write, three resignations from the government, including that of Alison Redford as premier. However, the Redford resignation may ...

5. 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 ...

6. Alberta's double-dip decline in financial assets

   In just six years, the value of Alberta's net financial assets--the broadest, most comprehensive measurement of Alberta's financial wealth--has dropped by 65 percent, from $34.5 billion in the 2006/07 fiscal year to $12.1 billion in 2012/13, a ...

7. Canada is a country, not a set of provincial fiefdoms

   Appeared in the Calgary Herald, Vancouver Sun, Victoria Times Colonist and Winnipeg Free Press When Christy Clark recently asserted British Columbia didn’t need the federal government and also said “we don't need Alberta,” the B.C. premier ...

8. Ralph Klein's legacy: family-friendly policies and a $44-billion fiscal turnaround

   Appeared in the National Post and Calgary Herald With Ralph Klein’s passing, many have tried to find a constant theme in his political life. The late premier was, to be sure, a populist. What else explains his reputation as a big spender when mayor of ...

9. 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 ...

10. 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 ...