Hot Topics in Economics

Glen Hodgson Senior Vice-President and Chief Economist Forecasting and Analysis

2012 is a presidential election year for our next-door neighbour, the United States. The next six months will see endless posturing and debate on many issues, from health care, to job creation, to how to deal with Iran; ...

Kip Beckman Principal Research Associate, Economic Services

Scotland will hold a referendum in the autumn of 2014 over the issue of independence from Great Britain. In a recent article, the Economist notes that both sides of the dispute are hurling accusations back and forth as the pro-independence Scottish National ...

Glen Hodgson Senior Vice-President and Chief Economist Forecasting and Analysis

Comprehensive tax reform in Canada seems to take place once a generation, and the current tax system is well past its “best before” date. Our tax system has lost sight of the basic principles of efficiency, neutrality and ...

Glen Hodgson Senior Vice-President and Chief Economist Forecasting and Analysis

The Alberta election is over and people are again focused on work, studies, family. Economic prospects are pretty good right now in Alberta—better than in every other state and province in North America, even booming Saskatchewan next door. ...

Kip Beckman Principal Research Associate, Economic Services

Last year, Cuba’s president Raul Castro initiated a number of economic reforms approved by the Communist Party designed to revive the Island’s dismal economy. The reforms will eventually transfer a large part of the state into private hands and they are already ...

Pedro Antunes Director Forecasting and Analysis

Setting monetary policy in Canada is never a simple task. In the aftermath of the financial crisis, the Bank of Canada and other central banks took extraordinary steps to shore up the global financial system and help to restore the conditions necessary for ...

Michael Burt Director Canadian Industrial Outlook

One could be forgiven for believing that a perpetual fog of woe betides Canada’s manufacturing industry. Despite the end of the recession nearly 3 years ago, headlines continue to trumpet plant closures and job losses. However, this is the common problem of confusing ...

Glen Hodgson Senior Vice-President and Chief Economist Forecasting and Analysis

Over the past year, my colleague Mario Lefebvre and I have applied our training in economics to the world of professional sports, principally in Canada (see the “Playing in the Big Leagues” briefings) For a change ...

Mario Lefebvre Director Centre for Municipal Studies

The 2012 Budget announced federal job cuts totalling 19,200 over three years.1 While these cuts are significant, they do not come close to rumoured numbers that ranged as high as 60,000 jobs. And the cuts will not devastate the Ottawa-Gatineau economy....

Robin Wiebe Économiste sénior

> English version

À Montréal, les visiteurs ne peuvent faire autrement que de remarquer la multitude de petits immeubles à appartements qui longent les rues de la ville. Dits « les plexes », ces immeubles de quelques étages seulement, avec leurs escaliers extérieurs, sont profondément ancrés dans ...