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1. Federal debt may eclipse $1 trillion for first time in Canadian history

   The fiscal response to the COVID-19 crisis has been large at the federal and provincial levels. The reduction in economic activity and subsequent reduced government revenues has produced massive deficits. At the provincial level, ...

2. What would Chrétien’s budget rules have meant for Trudeau: Part 2

   After successive years of higher-than-promised federal deficits and record levels of per-person federal spending, the Trudeau government now finds itself less prepared to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. This blog post estimates where ...

3. Modern Monetary Theory, Part 2: Will MMT hold down taxes?

   As government expenditures associated with the COVID-19 crisis continue to mount, and as government tax revenues decline along with economic activity, so does the government’s fiscal deficit increase. Less well-recognized, however, is ...

4. Interest on government debt—a costly problem for the Rock

   Several provincial governments across Canada are currently running deficits and accumulating debt to finance their spending priorities. But one province stands out more than others. Newfoundland and Labrador has the highest provincial ...

5. Atlantic Canadians carry large government debt burden

   Newfoundland and Labrador has the highest per-person total government debt among the provinces at $48,478. ...

6. Canadians paying dearly for government debt in Canada

   Appeared in the Vancouver Province, February 20, 2020 For most Canadian families, the topic of government debt likely never comes up at the dinner table. And it’s easy to see why. With mortgages, vehicle leases and credit card bills, many Canadians have ...

7. Government policies hurting—not helping—on several fronts

   Picture if you will the following scenario. There’s a forest fire underway. How to deal with it? One logical approach is to deploy firefighters and waterbombers to extinguish the fire. Another approach is to light a number of smaller and ...

8. Trudeau sets another record—and not in a good way

   Appeared in the Toronto Sun, February 5, 2020 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has set another record—increasing the federal debt (per person) more than any other prime minister (not facing a world war or recession) since 1870. He earlier set a spending ...

9. Examining Federal Debt in Canada by Prime Ministers Since Confederation, 2020

   Canada’s 23 prime ministers have each left a legacy, and each of those legacies has an effect on all Canadians. One element critical to an analysis of each prime minister is whether he or she left the federal government more or less indebted than ...

10. Government debt—the burden on Albertans continues to grow

    At quick glance, you might think Albertans are fortunate to have a relatively low provincial debt burden. But that’s an incomplete and perhaps misleading story. In reality, the debt burden for Albertans is growing quickly. Of course, the ...