By PATRICK WEBBER (AIMS Research Associate) • Troy Media, 24 February 2017 • Local Xpress, 26 February 2017 • Charlottetown Guardian, 27 February 2017 A half-century ago, provincial governments could afford to tax and spend without excessively damaging economic growth. These facts have changed, but many still pine for a bygone era. In a Brunswick [...]
By PATRICK WEBBER (AIMS Research Associate) • Chronicle Herald, 04 January 2017 Austerity has become a popular buzzword over the last decade, gaining traction in the aftermath of the 2008 Great Recession and subsequent fiscal troubles in Europe. It has also found its way into Atlantic Canada’s public discourse. A plethora of local organizations, from [...]
By PATRICK WEBBER (AIMS Research Associate) • Financial Post, 20 December 2016 AIMS Research Associate Patrick Webber discusses his AIMS paper Measuring Austerity in Atlantic Canada. He outlines how, contrary to the rhetoric of anti-austerity advocates, all four Atlantic provincial governments have increased real absolute and per-person spending since 1980. “Austerity” has become a popular [...]
By PATRICK WEBBER (AIMS Author) • Telegraph-Journal, 12 December 2016 • Local Xpress, 13 December 2016 “Austerity” has become a popular buzzword, gaining traction in the aftermath of the 2008 Great Recession and subsequent financial troubles in much of Europe. It has also found its way into New Brunswick’s public discourse, having been adopted by [...]
On Dec. 8, 2016 AIMS Author Patrick Webber joined the Sheldon MacLeod Show to discuss his paper Measuring Austerity in Atlantic Canada.
Recurrent political debates about public finance often include exaggerated accusations of “austerity” when a government decides to reduce spending. Though the language of “imposing austerity” has found its greatest use in Europe, it is also found in North America and Atlantic Canada. But all reductions on government spending do not amount to austerity. Austerity [...]