If you were to go looking for the place in North America furthest from natural gas production you might end up in Goldboro, Nova Scotia. They say the country rock star Conway Twitty got his name by jabbing his finger…
Continue ReadingShould we be wary of foreign investment?
I get this question quite a bit. After a German entity bought up some timber land in the Miramichi this week I received several emails of concern. Well, if you aren’t prepared to invest in New Brunswick, we will need…
Continue ReadingWhither manufacturing in New Brunswick?
One of the least talked about economic trends in New Brunswick but the one with probably the most impact on the economy has been the shift in manufacturing over the past decade or more. As shown in the first table,…
Continue ReadingOh where, oh where are the entrepreneurs going?
One of my big themes lately is that we should think more about where the next round of entrepreneurs will come from rather than which funding programs/cash we are going to give the ones coming through the door. My concern…
Continue ReadingROI on public investment into economic development
Geez, folks. In just the past three days I have read three economic impact reports showing the ‘return’ on government investment as a multiple of either output/spending or GDP. This is at best bad economics and at worst purposely misleading. If…
Continue ReadingBuilding on Renous’ newfound fame as Hockeyville 2019
It’s interesting what kinds of things can motivate a population to mobilize. The Miramichi is an interesting example. Back in the 1990s when someone really wanted a Walmart they started a petition and got thousands of signatures which they promptly…
Continue ReadingOn labour shortages in NB: Our EI problem has not gone away
As I have said on these pages many times, Dr. Herb Emery was a huge pickup when he agreed to come to UNB and take on the Vaughan Chair in Regional Economics. He has churned out impressive research and insight…
Continue ReadingGetting to know New Brunswickers: Our household spending priorities
For your viewing pleasure, I have compiled a list of the household spending categories where New Brunswick ranks #1 among the 10 provinces (i.e. the highest share of household income going to the expenditure compared to other provinces) and the…
Continue ReadingEconomics for dummies: Debt to GDP ratio
I get asked once in a while why I don’t talk about ‘economics’ in a blog called It’s the economy, stupid!”. It is true that mostly I talk about economic development – but truth be told “It’s the economic development,…
Continue ReadingOECD principles on effective rural economic development
The OECD has published a list of principles to guide effective rural development. There are at least three interesting things about these principles – two good and one curious. The first is the focus on leveraging local competitive advantages. Somehow…
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