Search

Search results

1. Alberta’s credit downgrade a wakeup call to change course

   Appeared in the Calgary Herald, December 26, 2015 Last week, Alberta Finance Minister Joe Ceci was handed some disappointing news in advance of the holidays. Standard and Poor’s, a prominent government credit rating agency, downgraded Alberta’s rating, ...

2. Economic freedom and Canada’s public policy schizophrenia

     In international rankings of economic freedom, Canada has soared past the United States, so it should be no surprise that among sub-national jurisdictions in North America (which encompasses 10 Canadian provinces, 50 U.S. states and 32 Mexican states) ...

3. 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 ...

4. Throne Speech portends big blow to Alberta’s investment climate

   Alberta’s economy is still on shaky ground as oil prices remain depressed relative to last year’s levels. ...

5. 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 ...

6. Does Alberta need a sales tax?

   Appeared in the Calgary Herald, Jan 17, 2015 With oil prices plunging and provincial resource revenues expected to drop, Alberta’s red ink will rise. In response, Premier Jim Prentice has floated the notion of a provincial sales tax and/or hikes in other ...

7. Myth of energy-induced booms and busts

   Appeared in the Medicine Hat News, Kelowna Daily Courier, and Penticton Herald There is a prominent view among some in Alberta’s provincial government and elsewhere in the province that believes booms and busts in government finances are a result of the ...

8. Worried about Alberta’s budget? Stop counting on high resource prices

   Appeared in the Calgary Herald Forty-one billion dollars. That’s the extra amount, over and above what was needed to keep pace with population growth and inflation between 2006 and 2013, this to fund Alberta government program spending in those years. So ...

9. Prentice’s Path: Getty or Klein?

   Appeared in the Financial Post Alberta Premier Jim Prentice is in the midst of formulating his first budget and the fiscal path of the province while watching oil prices continue to decline. In this environment, the key question for the new premier is: ...

10. Ontario versus the West: No contest

    Appeared in the Globe and Mail When Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa announced a budget update and a revised, lower forecast for provincial economic growth, it was yet another piece of evidence that Ontario’s economy is sluggish. But Ontario’s ...