Atlantic Canada, where lives 30 percent of the Canadian population in five of the country’s ten provinces (Quebec*, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and PEI), has had slower population and GDP growth than central or western Canada in recent times. (*I’m including Quebec in “Atlantic Canada” here. This is for three reasons: first, Quebec is geographically an AtlanticContinue reading “Go East, Young Canuck!”
Should Hockey Fans Be Keynesians?
One of the most common things NHL players tell the media during the playoffs is that, when on the road, they want to play well during the first period in order to “take the fans out of the game early”. If we assume that the players are correct in thinking that the fans can have strongContinue reading “Should Hockey Fans Be Keynesians?”
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Mackinaw-what-a-comeback-for-the-Liberals!
Let’s talk, very quickly, about Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Justin Trudeau, and the resurrection the Liberal Party in Canada underwent during the country’s most recent election, 20 months ago. Before Justin Trudeau became Prime Minister at the end of 2015, the Liberals controlled only 34 of the 308 seats in Parliament. They had become the third party for the first time inContinue reading “The Father, the Son, and the Holy Mackinaw-what-a-comeback-for-the-Liberals!”
Oil and the Ouroboros
Today, at $45-50 a barrel, the price of crude oil has risen significantly from the $30 lows it reached around the start of 2016. Still, it remains quite far below the $80-110 range in which it resided during most of the past decade, prior to its crash in mid-2014. Gas and coal prices, meanwhile, haveContinue reading “Oil and the Ouroboros”
Spanish Geo-Economics: Past, Present, and Future
Link: spanish-geo-economics-past-present-and-future-january-2017 (If some the pictures on the link above are too blurry, you can see them clearly on the link below….however some of the text paragraphs in the link below are out of place. Sorry for the inconvenience). spanish-geo-economics-past-present-and-future-january-2017
The Giving Tree: Tu Bishvat and Israeli Economics
As in most religions, there is a tradition in Judaism to relate contemporary events to scriptural tales and holidays. In the story of Chanukkah, two miracles are celebrated: the Jewish Maccabbees winning over the Syrian Greeks in spite of the Jews being heavily outnumbered, and the Jews getting a lot of light out of a little bitContinue reading “The Giving Tree: Tu Bishvat and Israeli Economics”
Canada Needs A Red-Green Party
Watching the candidates for leader of the Conservative Party debate in Halifax last week was interesting. Thirteen out of the fourteen leaders in the debate argued against the implementation of any cap-and-trade systems or carbon taxes, on the basis that the Conservative Party should remain against tax increases in general. Quebec MP Steven Blaney said:Continue reading “Canada Needs A Red-Green Party”
A Look Back At Barack Obama’s Foreign Policy
Obama was elected at a time when political anxiety in America was relatively high, particularly among Democratic voters who disliked George W. Bush’s seeming lack of sophistication. The feeling was that the US had wasted trillions of dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and thus helped to ruin America’s economy and divert attention away from moreContinue reading “A Look Back At Barack Obama’s Foreign Policy”
Presidential Beginnings and Regionalism in America
Hillary Clinton would not just have been the first female president. She would also have been the first modern Democratic candidate born in a northern state to have become president. The past four Democrats who have won presidential contests (or five, if you count Al Gore’s ambiguous election result) were not from the North. ThisContinue reading “Presidential Beginnings and Regionalism in America”
Electoral College Blues
In the recent presidential election Donald Trump received the support of 45 percent of voters who have college diplomas, 37 percent of voters who have graduate degrees, and 35 percent of college-age voters. Trump won the presidency in spite of these relatively low numbers, however, because he is set to receive 57 percent of the votesContinue reading “Electoral College Blues”
Future Economics 