If you recall the report the New Brunswick Chief Medical Officer wrote about shale gas industry, you may remember among the grab bag of warnings was that shale gas would bring an epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases to New Brunswick. …
Continue ReadingDo we need luggage or economic development?
I just listened to a podcast discussing some of the many challenges associated with Jeffrey Sachs’ millennium villages projects in Africa. If I had time, I would discuss this in greater detail but I did want to key in on…
Continue ReadingOn the importance of dissenting views
In my day job, one of the services I offer is economic impact assessments for companies, industries and economic development organizations. One of my clients is JD, Irving as well as the forestry industry more broadly as I am asked…
Continue ReadingThe Pictou/Michelin $25 million economic development paradox
Michelin is reducing its workforce in Pictou county by 500. As a compensation, the firm is setting up a $2 million fund to support those – former employees or others – that want to start their own small business. They…
Continue ReadingICYMI: The problem of linear thinking
From a recent TJ column: Newton’s first law of motion states that an object at rest will stay at rest unless an external force acts upon it. Similarly, an object in motion will not change its velocity without some kind…
Continue ReadingCisco’s $100M Toronto innovation centre
This is another thought experiment for you. If Cisco had announced a $100 million innovation centre to study the internet of things in New Brunswick would the headline be “Cisco boosts Fredericton’s tech credibility with $100-million innovation hub” or would…
Continue ReadingWhat if New Brunswick was Ontario? A thought experiment
It remains an enduring mystery to me how resigned New Brunswickers can be when it comes to the economy. There is a collective shrug among us when we see reams of bad economic data. That’s just New Brunswick. This resignation…
Continue ReadingBy popular demand: The Jason Kenney Conundrum
From my TJ column earlier this week: Jason Kenney, Canada’s Minister of Employment, Social Development & Multiculturalism, is one of my favourite federal politicians. He seems to be an intelligent and energetic guy. For more than a decade he has…
Continue ReadingWe need more high income earners, sorry about that
When I post that New Brunswick needs more higher income earners (or when I say more wealth) this tends to rankle some of my readers. I will get a number of comments, emails and even telephone calls – mostly polite…
Continue ReadingICYMI: Learning from our spending patterns
From a recent TJ article: Statistics Canada’s annual survey of household spending (SHS) provides a portrait of how the average household in New Brunswick spends its income each year. The 2012 spending data confirms New Brunswick’s status as a population…
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