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1. How interest rates affect labour participation among Canadian workers young and old

   This week, the Bank of Canada held its benchmark interest rate (also known as the target or overnight rate) at 1.75 per cent with the corresponding bank rate at 2 per cent, while signalling future hikes “over time.” The bank has raised ...

2. Government spending varies widely across major Ontario municipalities

   Burlington spent nearly 17 per cent of tax-financed expenditure on “general government.” ...

3. 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 ...

4. Successive Ontario governments increased net debt from $139 billion to $338 billion

   The Ford government today released its fall economic and fiscal update, which includes taxation and spending changes, with Finance Minister Vic Fedeli noting that the "fiscal hole is deep.” However, perhaps the most telling ...

5. 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, ...

6. Government debt—a snapshot of each province

   The 2018 edition of the Federal Fiscal Tables is out, so it’s a good time to review the state of provincial government debt in Canada, especially given that we are about 10 years out from the financial crisis and Great Recession. Even ...

7. 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. ...

8. New trade deal increases American sway over Canada

   Appeared in the Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal, October 13, 2018 The great vociferous North American trade negotiations are finally over, and while the deal could still be derailed by the coming November mid-term elections in the United States, it’s very ...

9. Municipal spending in Ontario—a snapshot

   With municipal elections looming across the country, voters should be aware of the fiscal sustainability of city hall. The federal Parliamentary Budget Office’s recent sustainability report has noted that for subnational governments in ...

10. Trudeau government must act now on trade, taxes as possible recession looms

    Appeared in the Moncton Times & Transcript, September 28, 2018 As Parliament resumes, Canada’s policymakers face a turbulent state of affairs as the United States and China wage an economic Cold War armed with tariffs and Ottawa continues negotiating ...