I only met him a couple of times – he invited me to lunch one time to talk about economic development when he was an opposition MLA. I think he was certainly one of the Liberals strongest Cabinet ministers and I…
Continue ReadingAn unreviewed decade
Back in the office today after nearly two weeks away. I missed most of the media while out of the country so I spent sometime over the weekend looking at recent articles (online) and I can’t find a whole lot…
Continue ReadingEGM adds value
I wasn’t able to keep up with the news as I should have while I was away the last two weeks but I see now that our old friend Al Hogan had a little bomb shell to lob over the…
Continue ReadingIBM Global Location Trends Report
IBM is out with its latest report on global location trends. I don’t think it will come as any surprise that of the roughly 22,000 jobs created in Canada from foreign companies in 2008, Ontario and Quebec accounted for about…
Continue ReadingA decade in review: population
I am going to try and do a little decade in review over the next few days and posts. A lot of the 2009 data will not be out until well into 2010 but I’ll use the most recent data…
Continue ReadingWho is John Galt?
Just back from a two week vacation that involved Orlando, Savannah, Virginia and Hartford. Lot’s of kms on the minvan. I saw this billboard on the way to Florida. I think there were several but I am not totally sure…
Continue ReadingOn population growth, maybe
It’s fun to watch the Population Secretariat report on the quarterly population numbers and talk about getting closer to that goal of a 6,000 person increase by the end of this year. According to the CBC report, they are close…
Continue ReadingOn Tourism and Good Paying Jobs
Further to my column this morning, a couple of charts worth considering. I do not support a significant increase in government focus on tourism. Again, I reiterate that there is a role for government to play in coordination and support…
Continue ReadingTourism can’t be an economic anchor
My visit to Disney World has convinced me more than ever that tourism cannot be an economic anchor. The wage levels are just too low. My column on this subjec this morning in the TJ.
Continue ReadingHousehold spending data for 2008 is out
The average household expenditure data is out for 2008. The summary categories are found here. This does not mean New Brunswick has a low cost of living – per se – this means we have lower average household income which…
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