Interview with James Buchanan, 1986 Nobel Prize Winner in Economics
James Buchanan was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in economics for his work on the public choice theory of economics. As his early writings were highly influential in the design of equalization programmes such as Canada’s, Buchanan is known as one of the “fathers of equalization”. His more recent work has highlighted the possibility that equalization programmes can be captured and destroyed by politics and bad design. He spoke at a conference on equalization co-sponsored by the Montreal Economic Institute, the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies, and the Frontier Centre for Public Policy in Montreal on October 25th, 2001. Following this conference he sat down for an interview to discuss his changed perspectives on equalization.
East Coast must pull its weight: Buchanan ’86 Nobel Prize laureate says
James Buchanan, 1986 Nobel Prize laureate and pioneer of the "public choice" school of economics believes that the East Coast energy boom has given Canada a golden opportunity to reduce the distortions caused by equalization payments. Buchanan, of Virginia's George Mason University, was speaking after addressing a seminar "Equalization: Welfare Trap or Helping Hand?" sponsored by the Montreal Economic Institute, the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies, the Frontier Centre for Public Policy and the Conseil des relations internationales de Montréal. Buchanan’s remarks were reported in this article from the Financial Post. The government's equalization system may have brought benefits over the past 40 years, he said, but "it's time to wean the Atlantic area off transfer payments and make the receiving provinces and their taxpayers face their full responsibilities and spend less of the richer provinces' money."
Equalisation: Welfare Trap or Helping Hand?
James Buchanan, Nobel Prize Laureate in Economics revisited the case for equalising grants during a luncheon conference at the University Club in Montreal
Equalization programmes can be destroyed by politics and design flaws
Nobel laureate James Buchanan took this opportunity to revisit his arguments of 50 years before. He said that he didn’t take enough account of how political interference with the operations of such programmes can outweigh the good intentions behind them.
Un prix Nobel d’economie se penche sur la perequation a Montreal
Les organisateurs de la conference reclament un debat national sur l'avenir du programme canadien de perequation
Father of Equalization says programme can be destroyed by politics and design flaws
Conference organisers call for national debate on future of equalization programme
Canada, U.S. need a wall we can live with
The stakes at the US-Canada border now are as high as they have ever been for Canadians, and AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley takes a look at these stakes in this regular column. He concludes that this country needs to make absolutely clear to the Americans that we are a trustworthy partner who is ready to work with them to create a well-policed continental perimeter within which we can all feel as safe as possible.
AIMS author addresses Senate on equalization
AIMS author addresses Senate on equalization On 24 October 2001, Kenneth J. Boessenkool author of the AIMS report, “Taking of the Shackles: Equalization and the Development of Nonrenewable Resources in Atlantic Canada”, delivered a presentation to the Senate National Finance Committee. In it he outlined ten reasons to remove nonrenewable resources from Equalization. In summary, he argued that such a change would mean little to the federal government’s bottom line; it would continue to protect the federal balance sheet from the vagaries of the price of nonrenewable resources, particularly oil and gas; and it means a substantial simplification of the program - an intergovernmental hat trick not often seen in the arcane world of Canada’s intergovernmental relations.
Two Keys to Excellent Health Care for Canadians
Dr. David Zitner, AIMS Fellow in Health Care Policy, and Brian Lee Crowley, AIMS President, have made a submission to the Commission on the Future of Health Care chaired by the Honourable Roy Romanow. The submission outlines the conflict of interest arising from government acting as health services insurer, as health care provider and as evaluator of health care delivery and suggests that these functions need to be separated. The authors also recommend that regulators require health organisations to collect and publicise valid and reliable information linking health outcomes to their activities, and also provide reliable information about access to care. They close with a discussion of the need to assess proposals to change health care by tying them to a testable estimate of how the new structures and processes will influence access to care or patient and/or population health.
Pulling Politics out of Power, AIMS in Atlantic Progress
In a thought provoking article in Atlantic Progress, AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley challenges the preconception that deregulation in the electricity industry seems to have created nothing but grief for those who have tried it, and the benefits seem elusive. The old local monopolies that serve captive provincial markets have brought stability of supply and reasonable reliability of service. For Crowley, safety does not lie in resisting the changes that are sweeping the electricity industry, but in steady deliberate movement toward deregulation, in order to capture the technological, economic and industrial benefits that it offers. Reform of the electricity market is an idea whose time has come, and the Maritimes, like the rest of the country, have a great deal to gain from it. Publication: Atlantic Progress, October, 2001