Here is my recent TJ column on the role of cities serving as employment centres for broader geographic territories: If New Brunswick is to revive its economy and get back on a path to fiscal sustainability, it will require more…
Continue ReadingLearning from PropelICT
If you didn’t get a chance to read my recent column in the TJ on PropelICT, here it is: In 1972, the crooner Jim Croce warned “you don’t tug on Superman’s cape; you don’t spit into the wind; you don’t pull the mask…
Continue ReadingDriving around for work – interesting stuff
One of the more interesting data sets from the 2011 National Household Survey is the commuting data. It compares where people work to where they live and you get some very interesting trends. Take the example of Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe. These may…
Continue ReadingDon’t coddle start-ups
In case you have missed it start-ups are the hottest new trend in economic development thinking. Not small business. Not attracting industries. Not fostering more university research. Nowadays we are heavily focused on trying to foster new technology-based start up…
Continue ReadingGovernment’s role in fostering more R&D and other odds and ends
A few quick answers to the questions I received about my column in the TJ. 1. Am I a Liberal partisan? Nope. I criticized the Libs self-sufficiency agenda and have even taken a few jabs at the Frank McKenna team…
Continue ReadingGetting back to economic growth
It’s interesting. It seems passing Newfoundland & Labrador with the highest unemployment rate in Canada among the 10 provinces has at least raised a few eyebrows. As I pointed out in my column on Saturday, getting the public interest in…
Continue ReadingSeeking Service New Brunswick 9.0
You don’t have to roam the halls of the Centennial Building for too long before finding someone that will wax romantic about the introduction of Service New Brunswick back in the 1990s. You will be told that at the…
Continue ReadingThe death of news-talk radio in New Brunswick?
I am probably a little biased here because I am a regular contributor to News 91.9 but I am disappointed that the Saint John and Moncton channels are seemingly moving to a music format. How many crappy ways are there…
Continue ReadingSeeking ‘true’ economic growth
My column in this morning’s TJ looks at the sources of ‘true’ economic growth – specifically incremental economic growth. I have received several emails already today about this column so let me clarify a few points. It can be hard…
Continue ReadingDispatches from the road: Edmonton
The last time I was in Edmonton was in the early 2000s and a lot has changed since. I hardly recognized the place but I guess that is what happens when you are a fast growing urban centre. The population…
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