Maclean Publishes ’75 Charts Every Canadian Should Watch in 2017′

I’m happy to have been able to contribute to Macleans’ list of ’75 Charts Every Canadian Should Watch in 2017′.  My post was on the ‘Gig Economy’ and you can find it here (you have to scroll down to find it, but that gives you a chance to see some fascinating graphs first) but as […]

Switzerland May Have Voted No, But the Idea of a Universal Basic Income is Not Dead

Really, it seemed like the universal basic income (UBI), was going to be the hot new thing in economic policy. It sounds like such a simple solution to economic woes, so uncomplicated, just so basic really. Give every citizen in a country some form of stipend so that at the very least everyone has enough […]

Yes, Negative Interest Rates are a Thing Now

Way back when I studied economics, I don’t actually remember learning what a ‘negative interest rate’ was. In fact, even a few years ago when I taught graduate-level economics (a whole other post), I don’t remember it being in the curriculum, or even being asked about the topic. That was then, however. These days, negative […]

Free Schooling – but No Free Lunch

How would you like free college tuition for you and for your kids? It would really take the pressure off, right? Of course you’d take it if offered – but what if there was a catch, the catch being really high taxes forever? That’s the deal that Denmark – and a lot of Europe for […]

Tourists Can be Smart (or at Least Think They Are)

I love this: the newest trend in travelling is ‘Literary Tourism’, or making a pilgrimage to the birthplaces of your favorite authors or the sites of their books. As this article from the Atlantic details, it is certainly a gentler way to vacation than doing a bike tour or even schlepping from tourist attraction to […]

Exciting News from the Bank of Canada (No, I am Not Making a Joke)

I have to admit, following the antics of the world’s central banks has been a bit of a bore the past few years. Since the end of the financial crisis (no, we are no going to debate whether there is a still a crisis going on), central banks have basically left interest rates at crazy- […]

Growth, Education and Income Inequality

Want to deal with the problem of income inequality? The answer is not, as many argue, to simply do a Robin Hood steal-from-the-rich-and-give-to-the-poor thing. According to a new study by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) , the best way to deal with inequities is to build strong economies, then use some of the newly created […]