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 [...]
On Dec. 9, 2016, AIMS Policy Analyst Jackson Doughart joined Jean-Albert Maire of Radio Canada to discuss AIMS's policy paper "Measuring Austerity in Atlantic Canada." The interview is in French.
By JACKSON DOUGHART (AIMS Policy Analyst) • Troy Media, 14 December 2016 • Charlottetown Guardian, 19 December 2016 It's nearly impossible these days to have a conversation about public finance without someone crying "Austerity!" This term has become the meme of choice for political actors, activists and commentators who oppose any reductions to government spending. [...]
By JOHN RISLEY (AIMS Chairman) • Atlantic Business Magazine, 14 December 2016 Let’s speculate on the meaning of Donald Trump’s presidential win. I doubt very much that there will be a lurch to the far right. As strong minded as this President might be, he will have to bring his team and Congress along with him [...]
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 [...]
Editorial quoting AIMS study Measuring Austerity in Atlantic Canada • Telegraph-Journal, 12 December 2016 A recent report from the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies, a regional think-tank, suggests that Atlantic Canada has not, in recent memory, gone into “austerity” mode. This report is important because citizens are often led to believe the government has been [...]
HALIFAX, NS – The Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS) publishes this morning a policy study entitled Measuring Austerity in Atlantic Canada. The paper examines the public finances of governments in the region, paying close attention to the notion of austerity. The study sets to discover whether we have we lived in the recent past, or [...]
On Dec. 8, 2016 AIMS Author Patrick Webber joined the Sheldon MacLeod Show to discuss his paper Measuring Austerity in Atlantic Canada.
By PATRICK LUCIANI (AIMS Senior Fellow) • Financial Post, 8 December 2016 Rarely does a chance come along to shift a nation’s fortunes by changing its constitution. Italy had that chance and, in the process, could rid itself of an elite and bloated public administration and effectively abolish one branch of government — the Senate [...]
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 [...]