Bruce Cockburn is back with an interesting new recording – Life short Call now. It’s classic post 1985 Cockburn. He manages to hammer Osama, Dubya, big pharma, scientology – and that’s just the obvious targets. I guess I have become…
Continue ReadingJune labour force data
As you know, I always chuckle in this corner every month when the labour force survey comes out. Mostly, the news tends to be fair to bad for New Brunswick and the overall trends are among the worst among Canada’s…
Continue ReadingSocial capital – Does it apply here?
I keep reading articles about this thing people are calling ‘social capital’ and trying to figure out where it fits in my quest to see a strong and economically prosperous New Brunswick. A general Google search gives me 9 million…
Continue ReadingAtlantica Party
It is almost impossible to actually start and nurture to success a new political party in New Brunswick or for the most part in all of Atlantic Canada (although the NDP is making good inroads provincially in Nova Scotia). I…
Continue ReadingBack in the saddle and the movie theatre
Almost three weeks in Brazil. Key learning: an in-law visit is not the same as a vacation – if you define vacation as some form of rest and relaxation. Anyhoo, I’m back in the saddle – back to blogging up…
Continue ReadingHousing prices up strongly in Moncton
You need to take a nuanced view of housing prices in the context of economic development. The average price of a bungalow in Moncton is up almost 15% over last year – the fastest growth rate in eastern Canada (the…
Continue ReadingCopa do Mundo
Brazil is in a state of national mourning after losing to France again in the World Cup. It’s a bit surreal to see an entire population devastated.
Continue ReadingHarry S. Truman
As you may know, I am on a 2.5 week vacation in Brazil. It’s more like an in-law visit, quasi-vacation type of thing. Anyway, I was resolved to get some serious reading in on this vacation as there is limited…
Continue ReadingReflections on Canada Day
A quick and dirty post because it is challenging to write blogs from this South American venue. A few reflections: Canada’s a great country – cold weather notwithstanding. But when you think about it cold climate economies tend to be…
Continue ReadingBrazil´s auto sector
I always get in trouble when I talk about the auto sector but what the heck, here I go again. There are 440 automtive OE parts suppliers based in Brazil, 22 automaker assembly plants & 10 parts plants. The vast…
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