Bill Flax at Forbes writes: A history professor once postulated that the most pivotal battle shaping America’s destiny was not Yorktown or Gettysburg, but Quebec in 1759. There General Wolfe demolished French claims to Canada, which confirmed that America would develop decisively within the Anglo-protestant mold. The latest Economic Freedom of the World rankings (for 2009) highlight the …
Category Archive: Economics
Oct
02
Excessive Government Regulation
I found this tag on the stroller we push our son around in: First of all, in a state as financially troubled as California, they can still afford their own “Bureau of Home Furnishings“? At first I was terrified that this department of the State of California had at least 117 technical bulletins on Home …
Sep
29
Spend the $5 Billion to mitigate Climate Change
Today, there was much in the news about the report by the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy, which says that the effects of global warming could cost Canada $5 Billion dollars a year by 2020. If you read my post of January 2010, this would be a great deal! We should embrace …
Sep
27
Say No to More Stimulus
As the state of the global economy declines, there are concerns in Canada that we too will slide into a second recession (the “double-dip”). There are also calls that the Government of Canada should consider further stimulus to “help cushion the economy”. This is a terrible idea. h/t to Kate at sda for this link …
Aug
15
Book Review: The Original Argument
The Original Argument was not, as it leads one to believe from the cover, written by Glenn Beck. It was largely compiled by Joshua Charles, a student at the University of Kansas who heard Beck’s call for some to “translate” the Federalist Papers into modern English so more people could appreciate them. As far …
Aug
15
Book Review : Reckless Endangerment
In Reckless Endangerment, Gretchen Morgenstern and Joshua Rosner, both of the New York Times, do a reasonable job of exposing some of the greed and corruption that led to the financial collapse of 2008 and the Great Recession which America finds itself unable to recover from even three years later. I found the exposé of …
Aug
15
Book Review : Rollback
I first read Thomas E. Woods in his book Meltdown, which I reviewed two years ago. Hi most recent book, Rollback, attempts to lay out a process by which America – and by extension many western countries, including Canada – can reduce the size of government and remove many of the ways the government interferes …
Aug
07
Mark Cuban on Patent Law
Mark Cuban has a very good post recommending improvements to the patent law system. While his reference is clearly the US patent system, this applies to most of the patent laws around the world, including here in Canada. I would add one more thing to Mr. Cuban’s short list of fixes. While he focuses on …
Aug
06
On Infrastructure Spending in Calgary
Although it has passed from the daily news in the City of Calgary, we still have a budget problem. The municipal government is spending too much money and is having to raise property taxes steeply to pay for it all. Municipal politicians, such as Mayor Nenshi, continue complain that cities should be given more …