There is an excellent article in The Economist this week about the sometimes counterintuitive effects of infrastructure investment. The article cited areas in China where GDP declined when they were connected to excellent highway infrastructure. If you think beyond one…
Continue ReadingPlanes, trains and automobiles: Which one of these is not like the others?
No sooner had the feds announced they were investing $58 million over two years to support ferry services between Saint John, NB, and Digby, NS; between Wood Islands, PEI and Caribou, NS; and between Iles-de-la-Madeleine, QC and Souris, PEI; than I…
Continue ReadingEconomic development agencies: At least a few shades of grey
One of the meta-trends I think has been rising in force over the past decade has been the push to ram stuff into ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ or ‘good’ versus ‘evil’ categories – the rush to eliminate grey. I see this…
Continue ReadingGood news on the NB jobs front
Is the employment picture finally starting to improve in New Brunswick in a substantive way? It could be but I think it is too early to tell. As you will see in the first chart below, total employment in June…
Continue ReadingFree traders need something to trade
Somebody took issue with my TJ column this morning indicating surprise that I’m against breaking down the barriers between interprovincial trade. I asked them to read it again. I specifically say I am not against free trade but I think…
Continue ReadingHello, my name is David, and I’m an intellectual orphan
There are a number of people that I admire – writers, pundits, professors, thinkers – folks that I take what they say very seriously. I don’t always agree with them but I appreciate their world view and how they frame and…
Continue ReadingTransforming New Brunswick one young leader at a time: The role of 21Inc.
From a recent column in the TJ: The 18th Century German writer and statesman Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once wrote “the destiny of any nation, at any given time, depends on the opinions of its young men”. A decade or…
Continue ReadingThe sources of community pride: Three recent examples
Many people will say they are proud of their community or province or country for very specific reasons but it is rare to see almost universal pride over anything. One guy who watched Paul Henderson score in the 1972 Summit series…
Continue ReadingInstanbul’s not Constantinople: Focused economic development is not industrial policy
People seem to confuse my thinking about economic development. I get the charge that I am advocating ‘picking winners’ or old school ‘industrial policy’ that are ‘known to be a complete failure’, etc. Sometimes people see what they want to…
Continue ReadingOn population growth, fiscal stability and quality of life
I had an excellent conversation with a gentleman yesterday who was pretty vigorous in his view that I shouldn’t be talking about Saskatchewan – contrasting the economic situation out there to New Brunswick. We need to get used to very…
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