Someone asked me if there was a subtext to my TJ column this week calling for all of our economic development organizations to get in the boat and start rowing in the same direction. I listed off a few and…
Continue ReadingWhat were they thinking? A global economy?
As I have said before, we all have to deal with our own ideological contradictions. One of the most challenging positions is the one that is dead set against free trade. There is no doubt that free trade has formed…
Continue ReadingUnfortunately, I am not a raving lunatic
There are a few people who are determined to throw me in the camp of the hard right zealots. For example, I got a couple of emails this morning suggesting “what is wrong with the social safety net”? Do…
Continue ReadingA kind of vindication of my view on Equalization?
I have always thought that Equalization was holding back the economic development potential of New Brunswick. I believe the same thing about EI. It’s easier for the feds to cut a cheque than it is to work with the province…
Continue ReadingClarifying have and have not city calculations
Just a few quick points in response to several emails I received on my latest G&M post. First, here is the full table of all CMA and CA areas for the reliance on government transfer income and average income tax…
Continue ReadingShale gas as a source of university revenue
I talked with someone recently that visited the UT and saw this one pad natural gas well site and was told it generated significant revenue for the university. This is from a recent article on the project: “Since wells…
Continue ReadingElliot Lake Ontario Versus Wood Buffalo, Alberta
My upcoming column in the Economy Lab looks at reliance on government transfer income (i.e. CPP, OAS, EI, social assistance, etc.) and income taxes generated to come up with communities that are ‘have’ (i.e. contributing more but taking out less)…
Continue ReadingLooking at New Brunswick’s collective ‘paycheque’
I have been writing lately about how New Brunswickers are far more reliant on government than ever before but it seems more and more are tuning out or becoming increasing cynical. Certainly we are more reliant on government as a…
Continue ReadingDeconstructing the sources of economic growth
In my TJ column tomorrow I will be taking another stab at the question I am frequently confronted with – why does the government attract multinational firms when the focus should be on New Brunswick small businesses. This has been…
Continue ReadingNB Power – the new NBTel?
I got an email yesterday from someone close to the NB Power deal with Siemens telling me that this had the potential to be NBTel-like in that it would lead to a number of New Brunswick IT firms building products…
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