The more our economy grows, the greater our ability to invest in life-improving treatments and procedures A prosperous world is not just good for your wallet; it’s also good for your health. This bears repeating, especially given that in certain circles, it is popular not only to sing the praises of economic stagnation but to…
Land-use regulations and strict zoning rules are more significant contributors to high housing prices It’s always easier to blame someone else rather than to recognize one’s own mistakes. In an attempt to stem the rapid rise in housing prices, the federal government has banned foreign investors from buying homes in Canada. In the case of…
Tying funding to parental choices generates strong incentives for schools to provide higher-quality customization
When Canadian schools suffer from poor track records and students fall behind, provincial governments always favour the same response: throw more money at the problem. New crises prompt political actors to request further rounds of new investments, reinvestments, refinancing, and improved financing — the slogans change, but the strategy is always to try to secure…
CEO pay has increased over the last decade but the increase is perfectly related to the value of their skills
In debates about inequality, some people – including some economists – claim the salaries and compensation of chief executive officers aren’t linked to performance. Essentially, they don’t really earn their money. This claim, repeated ad nauseam in recent years, is misleading to say the least. As noted in my recent study published by the Fraser…
Using multiple sources of data can bring circumstances into sharper focus. That will allow us to concentrate on helping only those people who are truly in need
Claims of rising inequality are rampant in the media, mainly because many pundits confuse inequality with poverty and assume that the poor are enjoying lower living standards than before. But there’s no reason to expect poverty to move in the same direction as inequality – incomes rising at an uneven pace will reduce problems of…
Government-erected barriers mean firms have few incentives to improve efficiency, cut costs and satisfy consumers
Economists love competition. They tell students how competition between firms leads to lower prices and greater quality. Beyond the classroom, few dispute the benefits of competition. So why are so many Canadians unaware that governments across Canada shield close to one-third of the economy from competition? When economists speak of competition, they don’t refer only…
The burden of the debt financing falls on the whole population, and low-income Canadians can least afford to contribute
There’s been much talk about the federal government’s attempts to enact redistributive policies to reduce income inequality in Canada. But the way these measures are funded could increase inequality. One think-tank in Quebec surveyed a panel of 70 policy experts who noted that the latest federal budget would, on the whole, reduce inequality. I contributed…
In Quebec, the debate rages again – even though the case for deregulation is overwhelming, according to economists
Every few years, Quebec discusses store opening hours in the province. There are ebbs and flows to the discussion and we now seem to be at a flow point. The discussion pits smaller stores that want shorter hours versus larger stores that want fewer restrictions on opening hours. Rarely are consumers and workers brought into…
If we want fewer scandals, we must scale back government to limit the temptation to indulge in scandalous behaviour
The SNC-Lavalin scandal, which continues to dominate headlines across Canada, has many moving parts. It’s hard to disentangle everything so as to assign blame. But the situation provides an important lesson that seemingly many have forgot: big government invites big scandals. Political power can be misused for personal gain. It can be wielded in ways…
We need a more modest, but more efficient, set of environmental policies that involve doing less, not more
When economists speak about climate change risk, they use a lens of externalities – when exchanges between two parties have consequences that spill over onto third parties. These externalities are labelled ‘negative’ when these spillovers hurt third parties. Greenhouse gas emissions resulting from economic activity constitute a negative externality, as producers and consumers in any…