Talks between Inco and the government of Newfoundland and Labrador on the development of the rich Voisey's Bay mineral deposit collapsed recently, and may now be postponed indefinitely. AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley analyses the role played in this drama by Canada's equalization system in his column in The Globe and Mail.
Economic growth is not a mysterious force that strikes unpredictably or whose absence is inexplicable, according to Fred McMahon, Road to Growth. McMahon's book shows that successful economies maintain moderate costs, particularly labour costs and taxes. That leaves room for healthy profits, which in turn attract and fund further investment.
The Nova Scotia Government's program review has attracted a great deal of criticism, much of it attacking the premise on which program review is based. In The Sunday Herald, AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley reviews the case for program review and concludes that the arguments for it remain compelling. Not only do the province’s finances need to be put on a sustainable course, but ensuring that Nova Scotians get good value for public spending is indispensable for future prosperity.
Publication: HDN October 31, 1999. By Fred McMahon
Publications:HDN August 22, 1999. By Fred McMahon
Publications:MTT, HDN August 22, 1999. By Fred McMahon
Atlantic Liberals, it appears, believe three things. First, they think the region's economy is still centred on traditional, largely seasonal natural-resource industries such as the fishery, mining and forestry. Second, they believe that the region's already weak economy has been devastated by cuts to unemployment insurance and other transfers. Finally, they see the solution to these problems as being -- surprise, surprise -- a big influx of Ottawa dollars under their control.
In this 1999 column in the Chronicle Herald, Fred McMahon writes "Many historians claim Confederation's trade barriers devastated the Maritime economy, and there's some truth in that. Yet, the Maritimes' great prosperity and worldwide trading links were almost certainly destined for ruin anyway, as was Halifax's status as a world-class trading centre."
Atlantic Canada's percentage of the Canadian population has declined continuously during the past half-century, and further declines seem likely. In large measure that can be attributed to the fact that the region, and each province in it, receives disproportionately small shares of immigrants to Canada.
In this article for the Monton Times & Transcript and the Halifax Daily News in 1999, Fred McMahon writes, "Count on it - no matter how badly Nova Scotia messes up the offshore, companies will bid for exploration rights where there's money to be made, and politicians will take credit for it."