The TJ has a story this morning talking about NB’s robust forecast for exports over the next couple of years. I have no problem with the content of the story up to this point when the expert states: “New Brunswick…
Continue ReadingA bilingual society
This is a good step. http://www.gnb.ca/cnb/news/edu/2010e0804ed.htm We talk about a bilingual society and then spend almost all our time and effort keeping French and English apart. Our schools, media, cultural instututions, and just about everything else is either English or…
Continue ReadingNB in 2050
The subject of my column today in the TJ. I find predictions of the future fascinating because they are almost never right. I heard a guy over the weekend on a Big Ideas podcast saying that the UN population forecasts…
Continue ReadingThe changing tune
During the Hydro-Quebec debate, many of the opponents of the deal that I talked with were adamant that this was a deal cooked up just for the large industrial users and that NB Power should not be sold just to…
Continue ReadingThe elusive third way – complex math
Simple math for economists is a little harder to grasp for us mere mortals. The TJ has a good story today on the need to bring the NB government a strong measure of fiscal discipline. I don’t disagree one bit…
Continue ReadingRiddle me this
We have a paradox on our hands. The Canadian Learning Index used by Macleans magazine to tell us what places are smart and dumb is saying New Brunswick has the lowest percentage of household with access to broadband. The NB…
Continue ReadingInterdependence
Sometimes my blogs here get a little esoteric but bear with me. I just finished a wide ranging review of the NB economy over ten years. I can’t share the data here – or my client might not cut me…
Continue ReadingA few thoughts for the Tories
I think David Alward’s idea to legislatively reign in spending increases is a good one particularly since spending growth under the Tory government he was a part of grew by almost three times the rate of inflation. Government outspending the…
Continue ReadingWhat ever happened to GIS?
This ties into my TJ column today about research. When I came back to New Brunswick in 1991, the province was already becoming known for its geomatics and GIS expertise from the excellent work at UNB. So the question is…
Continue ReadingNobel prize in economic development
Someone sent me an email asking for practical ways that New Brunswick could become the Davos of economic development. I’m not the most creative guy around but why not pull from other examples? How about finding some CEO or whomever…
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