Risk, Regulation and Reality – Special event in Toronto
Are we forgoing economic opportunities because of irrational fears of hypothetical risks? Can government make risk disappear? And what are the real costs and benefits of the widespread belief that regulation can tame risk? If, like us, you think these questions are some of the most important facing Canada today, we hope you'll join us for this upcoming conference in Toronto where the use of regulation to manage risk will be explored. We have excellent international speakers joining us and we believe this event will be useful as we move forward in ongoing policy discussion with today government leaders.
You can’t build a city on handouts
Writing in the Globe and Mail about his new paper in financing city government in Canada, AIMS author and economics professor Harry Kitchen writes: Ottawa and the provinces should move away from transferring money to cities and should give them the instruments and tax room they need to become mature, responsible governments with the right incentives to serve their citizens responsibly, efficiently and fairly. Not only would this lead to a more optimal level of municipal services, it would enhance the quality of life for Canadians and improve the competitiveness of Canadian cities.
AIMS tells Daily News: Cities should keep own houses in order
The federal government doesn't have the constitutional right to give cities new sources of revenue, nor is there any need for it to do so, says AIMS’ author Harry Kitchen in Financing City Services, the latest paper in AIMS’ Urban Futures Series. Instead, as the Daily News reports here, Kitchen argues that municipalities should learn to be more efficient and make better use of existing avenues to raise the funds they need to pay for services and upgrade their roads, bridges, sewers and other infrastructure.
Why are many drugs cheaper in Canada than the US? It isn’t what you think…
The debate over pharmaceutical prices is once again heating up as the re-importation issue gains more traction in the lead-up to the US elections. At a conference on drug re-importation sponsored by the Maine Public Policy Institute, AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley was asked to explain why drug prices are lower in Canada
Federal Transfers not the only option for cities
In this interview with the Chronicle Herald, AIMS’ author Harry Kitchen says cities have all kinds of options for raising money short of a bailout from Ottawa. "I'm actually opposed to a federal government just transferring cash to cities," says Kitchen. He then remarks on the response of local mayoral candidates who argue many of Kitchen’s ideas do not fit the current progressive policies of municipal governments. Kitchen says existing tax rates and user fees actually hurt the lower class even more. "A lot of the income distribution issues are such that in fact they tend to benefit rich people instead of poor people when you don't ask people to pay specific fees."
AIMS Online, 15 September 2004
Accountability for environmentalists, no federal money for cities, understanding and allowing for risk in today's economy and society, plus reflections on our common continentla home (AIMS 10th anniversary dinner!), tuition fees and subsidies make up this week's AOL.
Cities don’t need federal bailout, AIMS author concludes
Current demands can be met by costing accurately and taxing fairly
Financing City Services
The federal government has no constitutional right to give cities access to new revenue sources and financing instruments, and should not participate with cities in revenue-sharing programs concludes Professor Harry Kitchen, author of Financing City Services: A prescription for the future, the latest paper in AIMS’ Urban Futures Series. Cities have become increasingly important players in the competitive global economy and have seen a dramatic increase in reliance on own-source revenues over the past 12 to 15 years. The result is the current call for a massive influx of federal dollars under a renewed national “cities agenda”, but Kitchen concludes that there is much the cities could do to put their own houses in order including changing assessment practices, improving development charges and replacing provincial gas taxes with municipal charges. Read his full paper to discover how cities can make it on their own.
Education: It’s how you spend, not how much you spend, that matters most
Statistics Canada has reported that Nova Scotia ranks last in per pupil funding, but that is not the whole story. AIMS author Charles Cirtwill says the province must balance "...what they have to spend, on what they need to do." Strategic investment is critical. Spending in specific areas - like literacy, numeracy and improved accountability and testing - deliver significantly better returns on a dollar for dollar basis than other expenditures. Nova Scotia has done this, and should see some long-term gains as a result. In fact, Statistics Canada said in this latest report that student to educator ratios had been improved and per pupil spending was not only up but that its growth has exceeded the rate of inflation (not only in Nova Scotia but in every province except Ontario - where they were already among the highest spenders on education, with little comparative success).
Tuition fees: Let those who benefit, pay (NS)
In his fortnightly column, AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley observes that the beginning of the academic year is marked, yet again, with both much self-congratulatory rhetoric about the inestimable value of university education to society, and much hand-wringing about rising tuition fees. Both attitudes are hugely overblown. Enrolments are up, not down, despite tuition fee rises. Moreover, low tuition fees are a socially regressive policy. The average taxpayer does not have a university degree, and certainly has a lower income than the average university grad. By getting a university degree, students capture for themselves a large private benefit – much larger than that generated for the taxpayer. There’s little evidence that higher fees restrict access, and lots of evidence that the value of the education more than compensates students for the cost. To find out the argument behind these conclusions, and see data from Nova Scotia, click on this link.