insight & evidence
The Policy Wonks on economics in general.
By Bernard F. Miller KC, ICD.D On September 13, 1970, Milton Friedman, then professor of economics at the University of Chicago and later a Nobel laureate, published an essay in The New York Times Magazine under the headline “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits.” It became one of the most consequential opinion pieces in the history of capitalism. It supplied the...
by Peter Nicholson The graph below appeared in a recent post on X by Johnatan Pallesen. Although the vertical scale is not explicitly indicated, it is presumably in units appropriate to each of the six variables plotted—e.g., Life expectancy in years from zero to about 100; GDP/capita from zero to about US$70,000. The point is to illustrate the spectacular take-off in the growth of an array of...
By Peter Nicholson Canada’s economy has a growth problem, and the country is finally starting to notice. As Andrew Coyne recently pointed out, Canada is no longer one of the richest countries on earth. Emphasis was added by the Bank of Canada’s senior deputy governor, Carolyn Rogers, who stated in a March 26th speech that Canada’s continuing stagnant productivity growth has become an...
Lessons for Canada from Nova Scotia’s Experience by Bernie Miller Introduction: Volkswagen and Canada’s Ambition for Leadership in the Green Economy Imagine it is late 2027 and the Volkswagen plant in St. Thomas, Ontario, funded with a $16B federal subsidy, is ready to go into production. There is a grand ceremony. Dr. Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG addresses...
By Bernie Miller Economics and public policy have lacked a unifying, people focused objective. Committing to an overriding objective of promoting opportunities for the well-being of all citizens could be our best economic development policy. This paper is intended to assimilate and generate knowledge about new ways of approaching the question of how to achieve inclusive economic growth and...
Place Based Economic Policy By Bernie Miller Developing economic policy for a region has traditionally tended to follow political, jurisdictional boundaries. Therefore, there was always a Nova Scotia economic development policy – one size fits all. If positive GDP growth were achieved overall, it would be deemed a success. More frequently, if it resulted in low overall growth, a failure. To the...
insight & evidence