By JOHN WILLIAMSON (Vice President of Research) • Troy Media, 04 Oct 2016 Governments and public servants are lousy at picking market winners and losers. In the case of the beer industry, consumers can get the job done. Corporate welfare isn’t economic development, it just diverts money from successful businesses to less successful but politically [...]
By JOHN WILLIAMSON (Vice President of Research) • Telegraph-Journal, 14 Sep 2016 The New Brunswick government released its budget update two weeks ago. The picture isn’t pretty. The province will borrow more money because expenditures increased faster than anticipated. Once again, we are reminded the government has a spending problem. Since 2005, New Brunswick’s program [...]
By JOHN WILLIAMSON (Vice President of Research) 02 Sep 2016 Lower beer prices from New Brunswick Liquor have produced greater sales. This is how markets work, and not just for alcohol purchases. When government taxes investment highly, it suppresses investment overall. Accordingly, governments could spur economic growth by lowering taxes. Read this article on the [...]
On Aug 22, 2016, AIMS Vice President of Research John Williamson was a guest on News 95.7's Sheldon McLeod Show, where he discussed the proposal to exempt consumption taxes on online purchases from foreign retailers under $200.
A Calgary Herald editorial criticizes labour policies from the federal government. It quotes AIMS's Vice President of Research John Williamson, who fears that the government "is creating an EI trap." Read the full editorial on the Calgary Herald website. Canada has long relied on foreign workers to fill shortages in our labour force, but it’s [...]
In the Telegraph-Journal, AIMS Vice President of Research John Williamson considers the proposal to increase the tax exemption on purchases from online U.S. retailers from $20 to $200. If enacted, such a policy proposal would unfairly disadvantage Canada's own retailers, Williamson argues, and so any reform should include Canadian businesses. Read this article on the [...]
AIMS Vice President of Research John Williamson responds to New Brunswick's Treasury Board Minister Roger Melanson about spending and deficits: "So long as New Brunswick continues to tax and spend the government will not balance its budget," he writes. "That is not partisanship or dogma – it’s a simple calculation." Read this article on the [...]
AIMS Vice President of Research John Williamson appeared on CBC Radio to discuss government spending in New Brunswick. He argued that the recent HST increase is supporting spending, not deficit control.
AIMS Vice President of Research John Williamson writes that, since 2010, Great Britain has created more jobs than the rest of the European Union combined. Part of its success has been a willingness to quickly adjust tax policy to poor conditions - a willingness that should be emulated in New Brunswick. Read this article on [...]
In his Telegraph-Journal column, AIMS Vice-President of Research John Williamson suggests that New Brunswick's government should commit to a limit on increased spending of one percent per year, to combat uncontrolled expenditure increases. This action, he argues, "would largely offset inflation and put downward pressure on the province’s spending arc." Read this article on the [...]