Here is my recent column in the TJ on urbanism. I am particularly interested in this idea of an urban activist. You may be surprised about this as I chafe at some of the activist movements in New Brunswick. I…
Continue ReadingWant to know why wholesale sector GDP is dropping? Ask.
An economic developer sent me an email yesterday suggesting that the negative feedback from ICT and engineering firms to the attraction of IBM and a big engineering outfit was proof we shouldn’t engage local private sector leaders in economic development. …
Continue ReadingEngineering economic growth: Halifax edition
Of the dozen or so Tweets/emails I have seen regarding the engineering firm that is setting up 400 jobs in Halifax, most of them I either disagree with or have a slightly more nuanced view. This is one of those cases…
Continue ReadingThe Feds giveth and taketh away
While there is considerable discussion about the growth of federal government transfer payments to New Brunswick over the past 15 years, less focus has been put on the rise in federal government public administration GDP over that time frame. In…
Continue ReadingOutrage: Rosedale subsidizes Etobicoke
I see David MacKinnon has brought his anti-Equalization message to the pages of the Telegraph-Journal. He is one of a growing number of voices in Ontario that blames equalization for Ontario’s economic woes and throws in the usual after thought…
Continue ReadingBring on the sociologists, please
It is interesting how easy it seems to be to get people fired up against economic development and so hard to get people fired up for economic development. Forget economists, I think it is time to enrol the sociologists in…
Continue ReadingJim Flaherty and provincial economic growth
A couple of months ago when it started to look like the Canadian economy wouldn’t perform as robustly in 2012 as was thought, federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty was on the TV assuring the public that he would do everything…
Continue ReadingWe need more from New Brunswick’s ICT industry
My TJ column tomorrow discusses the risks associated with a prolonged period of weak economic growth. From 1997 to 2006, GDP growth was a healthly 3.2 percent per year in the province but since then it has dropped to a paltry…
Continue ReadingLocal economic development matters now more than ever
Just a quick follow up on my comments with Terry Seguin on CBC this morning. I respect Minister Valcourt but his view of the Enterprise agencies seemed to be very unidimensional. Maybe this is based on his experience with rural…
Continue ReadingLookin’ out for the little guy, the woman on the street
There was a comment recently about how a journalist interviewed LaPierre on his shale gas report and hammered him and then interviewed Dr. Cleary and treated her like Mother Theresa. I can’t shed any insight into the approach or views…
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