Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is arguing that he should have more power over what banks do because if the banks screw up it is Ottawa that is “on the hook.” Of course it doesn’t occur to him that Ottawa isn’t actually “on the hook” in the sense that the government HAS to bail out banks. [...]
Category Archives: Economics
Flaherty demands veto power over bank decisions
Posted by Hugh MacIntyre on December 8, 2011 4 comments
The core of the European crisis is a lack of economic freedom
Posted by Hugh MacIntyre on December 1, 2011 Comments Off
As the Greek crisis rapidly turn into the European crisis there is a scramble by world leaders to “fix it.” Of course it isn’t that easy because the real crisis in Europe is a systemic one; the real downfall of Europe is a lack of economic freedom and it isn’t going to be easy for [...]
What is expression?
Posted by Mike Brock on November 21, 2011 4 comments
I have some complex and nuanced views on the Occupy Toronto protest, and I’m going to avoid getting into them here. Instead, I want to ask a question and hope in elicits a coherent response: if occupying a public park and turning it into your de facto domicile can be a Charter-protected form of political [...]
Flaherty confirms that the budget will not be balanced in 2014
Posted by Hugh MacIntyre on November 8, 2011 Comments Off
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has announced that the deficit will not be eliminated as quickly as the government had promised. The plan to get out of deficit was based on an assumption that the economy will continue to improve at a certain rate. As has become increasingly clear the economy is not going to improve [...]
Federal government can’t spend money on infastructure, it has no money
Posted by Hugh MacIntyre on October 18, 2011 1 comment
As pressure continues for the federal government to introduce another round of new spending, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities are adding its voice and suggesting that commuter infrastructure would be a good way to spend all that money that the federal government doesn’t have. The first thing that comes to my mind is that even [...]
To the would-be occupiers of Bay Street
Posted by Mike Brock on October 2, 2011 17 comments
You are right to be angry. Although, I question how many of you truly understand the system you criticize. You’re right that Bay Street is a land of excess at the expense of you and most Canadians. You’re right that we are merely serfs of the financial class. But why is it this way? Is [...]
Obama’s job plan won’t work
Posted by Hugh MacIntyre on September 9, 2011 2 comments
Chris Edwards of the Cato Institute has written a nice summary of the bad ideas that can be found in Obama’s new spending plan. A temporary payroll tax cut. This is not a tax cut at all because the president would “pay for it” with tax hikes later on. And if it’s temporary, it won’t [...]
How will the Conservatives say no to new spending?
Posted by Hugh MacIntyre on September 9, 2011 8 comments
Three weeks ago I wrote a post that argued that the Conservative Party will have trouble resisting the calls for more “stimulus” spending because they have lost the credibility to offer an alternative (i.e. conservative) perspective. It has become the accepted wisdom of Canada’s political class that deficit spending can improve the economy. This is [...]
We are losing the war of ideas
Posted by Hugh MacIntyre on August 25, 2011 9 comments
Last Friday I wrote a post that argued that the Conservative Party has damaged the conservative movement when it comes to the debate between fiscal restraint and “stimulus” spending. By advocating for deficit spending in the 2009/2010 budget and then claiming that this budget was fundamental in saving the economy, the Conservatives have left themselves [...]
The Conservative Party has screwed itself and the movement
Posted by Hugh MacIntyre on August 19, 2011 19 comments
The early days of 2009 were crucial in Canadian financial, economic, and political history. Most people will remember the attempt by the opposition parties to form a coalition government at the end of 2008, but really it was the decision to return to deficit spending that is and will have a longer lasting effect. We [...]
US Budget Plan: fake spending cuts
Posted by Hugh MacIntyre on August 3, 2011 Comments Off
So after all that the various branches and houses of the US government has come up with a deal to avert disaster, right? Nope. At best all they have done is slow down disaster just tiny little bit. For as the Cato Institute points out, under this new budgetary plan spending will actually continue to [...]
Econ Talk: the debt ceiling
Posted by Hugh MacIntyre on July 29, 2011 Comments Off
For those of you who are as confused about the debate around the debt ceiling as I am: here is a fantastic interview on Econ Talk that explains it very well. ShareFacebookStumbleUponDiggRedditEmail
The myth of cheap labour and the inflation in your future
Posted by Mike Brock on July 7, 2011 Comments Off
A lot of my friends are people who you would call “left wing”, and I often spar with them on various issues. One issue I tend to spar with them on, is the natural capitalist tendency towards the exporting of jobs overseas to “exploit” foreign workers at subsistence wages. There are fundamental errors in this [...]
America’s appointment with destiny
Posted by Mike Brock on June 23, 2011 2 comments
It’s a tired expression to say what goes up, must come down. But it’s always a pertinent one and it applies to pretty much everything in the universe. After all, the universe has an appointment with destiny too, and it’s a dark, cold, lifeless one. In the interim however, we can make the best of [...]
Federal government needs to be more active in deficit fight
Posted by Hugh MacIntyre on June 2, 2011 3 comments
Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page is saying that the federal government’s estimate of the size of the deficit over the next five years is off by $35 billion. He comes to this conclusion by making more conservative projections on the economy and operating budget. We will only know which projection is closer 5 years from [...]
The bad loans to Chrysler and GM
Posted by Hugh MacIntyre on May 31, 2011 Comments Off
Imagine going to the bank and saying, “I have only paid back 59% of my loan and I don’t plan on paying any of the rest back.” Then you stick a pin on your lapel that says “paid.” The bank responds, “Wow you were a great investment, thank you for paying that much back. This [...]
Broken windows in Japan
Posted by Hugh MacIntyre on May 19, 2011 Comments Off
Oh but increased aggregated demand will rescue the economy…right? ShareFacebookStumbleUponDiggRedditEmail
We’re going to spend this bitch into the ground and take everyone down with us
Posted by Mike Brock on May 18, 2011 Comments Off
Timothy Geithner might be the most evil person alive. But I say might, given that the distinction probably lies with Ben Bernanke. I could have started this article off a little less provocatively. But then I asked myself why would I do that? I mean, I don’t think calling America’s Treasury Secretary evil is really [...]
Industry planner demands capitalist pigs answer for their crimes
Posted by Mike Brock on May 17, 2011 2 comments
No more than days after faithful Canadian socialist comrades returned the revolutionary socialist government of Stephen Harper to it’s rightful place of power, so that it can continue the revolutionary struggle against capital, that the sly, criminal oil tycoons attempted a fast one on the proletariat. The top-hat wearing oil tycoons, often seen smoking cigars, [...]
Note to Jack Layton: doubling the CPP is a bad idea
Posted by Hugh MacIntyre on May 11, 2011 2 comments
Jack Layton has announced that he is going to push hard for the government to double CPP contributions. Mr. Layton is going to find out pretty fast that he had more power and influence in the last Parliament despite having more MPs in his caucus this Parliament. That being said, opposition leaders are not without [...]