Alec the Bruce is back at it doing a little whacking of his own. I don’t do a lot of linking to other blogs (I should do more) but this one is well worth the read. Unfortunately, through decades of…
Continue ReadingCan’t government spend your way to prosperity
I have seen very little analysis of the rapid rise in provincial government spending since 1999. This is a bit perplexing considering that the bulk of the funding for this expansion of spending comes from federal transfer payments. So, I…
Continue ReadingThe great labour market squeeze
There have been a number of stories recently about the shortage of labour in New Brunswick. Mexicans have been brought in to pick potatoes. The Dutch have been brought in to drive trucks. Employees from the Phillipines and India as…
Continue ReadingFive Years On: More Mobility of of University Grads
The Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission just released a new study entitledFive Years On: A Survey of Class of 1999 Maritime University Graduates. Now, I admit I only breezed through the 86 page report but I got caught up on…
Continue ReadingI’m feeling old today
Elaine Minacs, renowned entrepreneur, dead at 60. I knew this lady. We wrestled her to the ground over setting up a call centre in New Brunswick in the 1990s. We won and convinced her. I think they have about 400…
Continue ReadingGalbraith’s bewilderment and McKenna lingers
I am finishing up Donald Savoie’s tome about economic development in the Maritimes: Visiting Grandchildren. I will likely have some comments on his recommendations at some later date but for now here are two observations: Savoie recounts how John Kenneth…
Continue ReadingWhere’s that passion on the front end?
I have been watching Miramichi Mayor John McKay and his campaign to save the 200 gun registry jobs in his city. It’s been pretty amazing for a small town mayor. He has gotten national press (I just heard him on…
Continue ReadingI understand the point of view of the hound, too
From the movie Casablanca (1942):Rick [Humphrey Bogart]: My interest in whether Victor Laszlo stays or goes is purely a sporting one.Strasser [German Major]: In this case, you have no sympathy for the fox, huh?Rick: Not particularly. I understand the point…
Continue ReadingI’m sorry. I had decided not to write another one of my blogs complaining about the government. I read the TJ article, put it out of my mind and it kept popping back in. So you bear the brunt. What’s…
Continue ReadingOn Crowley and Vroom Vroom Economic Development
Right off the top, I am not talking about old Jean ‘Vroom Vroom’ Gauvin. Rather I am musing aloud (or in the blogsphere) about how AIMS’ Brian Lee Crowley reacts when he sees yet another auto plant incented with public…
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