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1. Memo to the White House—if it matters, measure it

   The Fraser Institute’s motto is that “if it matters, measure it.” Our motto is a constant reminder of the importance of measuring the effect of government policy interventions on people’s lives, and it guides our work every day. Of ...

2. William Watson: The last protectionist businessman-president also did walls—it ended badly

   Thanks to the miracle of Internet word search—and it really is a miracle, isn’t it?—I learn that the United States’ first businessman-protectionist also made speeches about Mexico and walls. It didn’t end well. In Des Moines, in his home ...

3. Trump’s fulsome attack on free trade and the dangers for Canada

   In the wake of Donald Trump’s angry, vividly anti-free trade inaugural address, world leaders are already girding themselves for a global trade war they pray never happens. Canada has tried to set a neutral, albeit pro-free trade tone ...

4. Trump plays trump on Keystone XL pipeline

   Today, on President Trump’s second full weekday in office, he once again showed that what he talked about on the campaign trail was not idle chit-chat. According to news reports, Mr. Trump signed five Executive Orders today involving ...

5. Border tax—a possible threat to Canadian prosperity

   Forget $25-plus billion deficits in Ottawa. Forget a national debt now projected to grow to $1.5 trillion. Forget the competitive implications of a national carbon tax. Forget even the horrendous state of electricity prices in Ontario. ...

6. William Watson: ‘I, Ballpoint’ misses the point—at least a little

   You live long enough you really do see everything. I hold in my hands my copy of the Little Red Book, quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung, which I bought sometime in the late 1960s for the very reasonable price, the inner flap says, of ...

7. The good and the bad of a Trump presidency for Canadian energy

   Today, Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States, and while nobody knows how Mr. Trump will actually govern, his rhetoric leading up to today’s inauguration offered both potential opportunities for Canada, ...

8. Trump’s judgments on prices may keep Canadian companies guessing

   The concept of a “just price” is most prominently associated with the medieval Roman Catholic philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas. Scholars have noted that St. Thomas was vague about precisely what the just price for any item is ...

9. Trump’s trade trifecta will likely target China, Canada and beyond

   In my last post on this site, back in October, I stated that the odds that Hillary Clinton would beat Donald Trump in the November election were high. I went on to say: If your concern is trade between Canada and the United States, ...

10. Trump border tax plan may harm Canadian-based companies

    The new U.S. administration under President-elect Donald Trump is set to assume office on January 20. The hiatus between the election and pending inauguration of the new president has not resulted in a great deal of clarity surrounding ...