I’m not exactly Dave Veale, but I do understand the importance of leadership to successful organizations. As I see it there are leaders who are the hardest working people you will ever meet. They are also usually smart. They have…
Continue ReadingLet’s have a fact-based conversation about property taxes
It would be kind of cool if we could use facts when debating public policy options in New Brunswick. I’m not a big fan of property taxes. I pay something like $4,500 a year on my house and it is…
Continue ReadingPutting down roots in a transient world
I have been thinking a lot lately about how we encourage people to put down roots in a specific geography even as societies are becoming more open. One way is to encourage a kind of Trumpian nativism where people long…
Continue ReadingThe curious economic development example of Dorchester, NB
My go to book when I want a snapshot of what went on in New Brunswick in a specific year or during a particular administration is Richard Wilbur’s New Brunswick: An Annual Review, 1960-2006. Unfortunately it only covers the period between 1960…
Continue ReadingGetting over the blues: The berry edition
We have been talking now for the last three years about the state of the blueberry industry in New Brunswick. On the one hand it is a great success story of farmers, government and industry coming together – weaving in…
Continue ReadingThe Sisson Hindenburg?
A couple of years ago the CBC sent a young reporter to out Stanley to interview folks about the proposed Sisson tungsten/molybdenum mine. I was bracing for the worst when she started her reportage but it turned out that most…
Continue ReadingCalling all you zombies
At some point during the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I don’t remember exactly, Viggo goes into a dark and dreary forest and finds an army of cranky undead and enlists them to fight against the armies of Mordor. As…
Continue ReadingWill the NB economy keep on truckin’?
Those of you who have followed this blog for a while will know that I believe good economic development strategy is based on a strong understanding of your economy, its assets and attributes and on determining what is an…
Continue ReadingWhere do good ideas come from?
Walking around London and Paris these last few days I keep bumping into some of the biggest thinkers of the past 400 years or so. We walked around Bloomsbury and I was reminded of Keynes and his Bloomsbury group. We…
Continue ReadingNew Brunswick’s Rodney Dangerfield problem
The 1980s comedian/actor Rodney Dangerfield used to say he “gets no respect”. Sometimes I feel that way about New Brunswick. When you eat at a restaurant in New York you order “Nova Scotia salmon” even though Nova Scotia doesn’t actually…
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