I know that I have talked about this before, but it is well worth repeating. This is mostly for hard core economic developers but it’s an interesting program for all to consider. One of the biggest problems facing New Brunswick…
Continue ReadingThis would be funny if it wasn’t so serious
One of the sectors being pushed by the McKenna government in the mid 1990s was online learning (web-based learning, eLearning, e-Learning, tele-education, etc. – one of the problems was the lack of a consistent label). At that time, there was…
Continue ReadingLow cost of living = low growth?
I am the first guy to trumpet the low cost of living in the Maritimes but there are times when I would like a little cost appreciation. Take the cost of housing. Since 1997, the average cost of a new…
Continue ReadingUniversities: Chicken or Egg?
The impact of universities has been in the news lately. A new ACOA-funded report, Smarter Together: The Economic Impact of Universities in the Atlantic Provinces highlighted the economic benefits that universities bring to the community. In the New Brunswick media,…
Continue ReadingOn EI and economic development
From this morning’s Times & Transcript: Two New Brunswick MPs are proposing private members’ bills to make the employment insurance program more generous.Acadie-Bathurst New Democrat Yvon Godin tabled his bill that would set the entrance requirement at 360 hours of…
Continue ReadingThe language of death
From a Telegraph Journal story this morning: Debate rages over number of universitiesFormer chair of the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation sees too much duplicationWarren McKenzie, who has donated so much money to New Brunswick universities that he can’t remember the…
Continue ReadingDeconstructing the benefits of tax cuts
Just a mini rant this a.m. about the so-called benefits of provincial tax cuts. I won’t touch Federal tax cuts because I am looking at the opportunity cost of tax cuts in New Brunswick and it is likely that if…
Continue ReadingMusings on the Miramichi
Just got back from another fishing trip in the Miramichi. We put the canoe in about 15 kms out the Renous highway and paddled/fished down to the mouth. Fun stuff. I caught the largest trout ever in my 38 years…
Continue ReadingLabour market reporting
I’ll just make a couple of points on this. The employment picture in NB so far this year has been improving – somewhat after zero growth in 2005. But I have to say the reporting in the T&T continues to…
Continue ReadingComments on Fredericton’s gridlock
It’s difficult for a Monctonian to formulate a reasoned and well-informed position on the current gridlock in the New Brunswick legislature if all we have to go on is the Times & Transcript. If we were to listen to Al…
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