Check this out – the second edition of this video podcast. Next time I think I will break things up into the “Good”, “Bad” and “Ugly” of economic development in the region to make it a little less boring. Comments…
Continue ReadingTurning the focus inward
I have received several emails lately that have turned my thinking inward towards our locally based businesses and their role in long term economic development. When I say our local businesses I am talking exclusively about those that are exporting (products…
Continue ReadingActivist journalism at its finest
Al Hogan must be a case study for journalism classes everywhere. It’s fascinating to watch. The Times & Transcript has featured over two dozen stories about tax reform in New Brunswick and the central theme of virtually everyone of them…
Continue ReadingAlberta’s corporate welfare paradise
Once in a while, the Fraser Institute publishes a paper that makes their province of origin look really bad. They don’t do it on purpose, of course, but it ends up that way. Take their latest paper on corporate welfare. …
Continue ReadingImmigration, growth scenarios and Richard Florida
I just spent a day and half with a client talking about immigration. These were a great bunch of folks (I can say that because I don’t believe they read this blog), highly motivated and talented. I don’t see this…
Continue ReadingWho benefits from tax cuts?
It’s nice to see that the Federal Department of Finance agrees with me. I said during the provincial government’s discussion on taxation that reducing consumption taxes would be a benefit to foreign manufacturers because it stimulates more consumption. Here’s a…
Continue ReadingHighways aren’t economic development
As with most people, my thoughts tend to coalesce around certain themes. I look for a common thread or the connective tissue. It seems to me that governments have agreed that during a time of recession, they need to spend…
Continue ReadingThe new gold rush
A new player has stepped into the picture in oil and natural gas exploration here, committing $4.5 million to test potential in a 60,000- acre parcel taking in Norton, Ratters Corner and Wards Creek. Ittihad Capital Corporation, a private fund…
Continue ReadingAndrew Carnegie
Just finished a bio of Andrew Carnegie. Don’t know why but I have been reading about these old titans of industry lately. It’s a strange case. He amassed a fortune of what today would be worth $120 billion and then gave it…
Continue ReadingCanadian companies and economic development
I don’t know, maybe I am just a plain old vanilla socialist but I have felt for a long time that Canada’s national companies don’t give a rip about regional economic development and, in fact, are working against it in…
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