Tag Archive: stimulus

In defense of the stimulus

Mar 25, 2010
By
Earlier this week, the Fraser Institute published a controversial report which argued that the government stimulus did not do much for economic growth in the last two quarters of 2009, suggesting that government spending on infrastructure was useless. While their analysis suffers from serious shortcomings, which I outlined in a previous blog post here, their… View Article

The role of stimulus spending in the recovery

Mar 24, 2010
By
Yesterday, the Fraser Institute published a new report, which argues that the government stimulus did not drive Canadian economic growth in the last two quarters of 2009, suggesting that government spending on infrastructure was useless for the economy. The report earned the scorn of Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, who called it “poorly done and it’s… View Article

Is the stimulus killing the P3 model?

Mar 27, 2009
By
While BC has not formally abandoned the P3 model, there is a notable absence of new P3 projects at a time when billions of dollars are being channeled to infrastructure spending. If P3s really provided value for money and brought the benefits of private sector efficiency and innovation to the delivery of public-sector infrastructure, then… View Article

The wrong kind of stimulus

Mar 13, 2009
By
I am a big fan of stimulus packages for our ailing economy. But my pitch has been that we need to use the occasion to retrofit our economy to be on a more sustainable footing. So it matters a great deal on what we spend those stimulus dollars. If we launch projects that take us… View Article

BC Budget 2009: Vanilla, No Sprinkles (revised)

Feb 17, 2009
By
Faced with a nasty recession at its doorstep, the BC budget is uninspiring and underwhelming in its ambition. Overall there is little that actively plans for a recession, preferring instead a steady-as-she-goes budget, perhaps aimed at cultivating the image of responsible economic managers in a time of crisis. There are no tax cuts or drastic… View Article

Infrastructure – more than just ‘guy jobs’

Jan 21, 2009
By
Now that almost everyone seems to agree that public spending on infrastructure is a good idea – it’s time for another paradigm shift. Across the political continuum,  infrastructure talk is still all about roads, bridges, and transit – sectors that overwhelmingly employ men. But, to stimulate the economy, surely we need to invest in both social and physical infrastructure. Lets take… View Article