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AIMS-inspired national debate on equalization goes on-line

By | June 27th, 2001|In the Media|

In his latest column for Canoe Money, an on-line media outlet, economist and author Tim Whitehead expresses high praise for "Equalization: Milestone or Millstone?", by Roland Martin, former AIMS Fellow in Public Finance. Whitehead refers to the equalization clawback as a "tax on success" and comments positively on the recommendations to improve the formula that have been put forward by Martin. Whitehead's piece adds to the growing national debate that has been inspired by the release of the first two papers in AIMS new series on equalization: "Equalization: Milestone or Millstone?" and "Taking off the Shackles: Equalization and the Development of Nonrenewable Resources in Atlantic Canada" by Ken Boessenkool.

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Calgary Herald endorses AIMS equalization paper

By | June 21st, 2001|In the Media|

In endorsing the conclusions of a recent AIMS paper on equalization, a Calgary Herald editorial stated that Albertans know intuitively that "windfall" oil revenues should be used to retire debt, shore up savings or spent on one-time projects, not for regular program spending. In Taking off the Shackles: Equalization and the Development of Nonrenewable Resourses in Atlantic Canada, Ken Boessenkool argued that royalties should not be considered part of a regular income stream and should be excluded from the equalization formula. The Calgary Herald has agreed. It states: "…the transfer calculations should be made on the long-term, stable sources of provincial revenue - such as corporate profits, personal income and sales taxes - not volatile royalty revenues. "

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The cruel hand of equalization

By | May 31st, 2001|In the Media|

The time has never been better for the Atlantic provinces to lessen their dependence on federal transfers and to become masters of their own fate. Energy prices are high, shortages are emerging in Canada's major U.S. markets, and the Prime Minister has responded favourably to U.S. requests to speed up the development of new energy supplies. Yet, on average, about 40% of provincial budgets in the four Atlantic provinces still come from federal transfers, most in the form of equalization. AIMS President Brian Crowley and AIMS author Ken Boessenkool outline a straightforward solution to this dilemma in this op-ed piece published in The National Post. Removing nonrenewable natural resources from the equalization formula would provide the Atlantic provinces with the incentive to rely on natural resources development as a centrepiece of their economic strategy in place of pleading for larger transfers from equalization. Gone would be the days when an Atlantic province might forfeit a nickel

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Social Policy in the New Economy

By | May 23rd, 2001|Op-ed|

The annual retreat of senior managers of the federal Department of Finance took place in Cornwall, Ontario this year on the theme of Social Policy in the New Economy. AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley was a member of a panel of four policy thinkers from across the country who were asked to come and set the stage for the group's deliberations.

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Hewers of wood, drawers of tainted water

By | May 14th, 2001|In the Media|

In his column in the Halifax Herald on Canada's drinking water problems, AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley asks: "Why have people not been charged the full cost of their water, including needed investment to keep the infrastructure up to par? Because politicians get elected for making people feel good today, not for taking care of tomorrow. By underinvesting in the water system, and undercharging for water, they please voters today. But the necessary investment and improvements cannot be put off indefinitely. Walkerton and North Battleford are only the most obvious manifestations of the insidious decline caused by a political system that allows politicians to reward voters today at the expense of voters tomorrow. " Publication: CHH, May 9, 2001, OC, May 14, 2001

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Equalization: Milestone or Millstone?

By | May 1st, 2001|Policy Papers|

This is the first report in AIMS Equalization Series. After 44 year and $180 billion, the Atlantic Provinces are not significantly ahead in their ability to be self sufficient.

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No province is an island in competitive climate

By | April 11th, 2001|In the Media|

The 2001 Nova Scotia budget was, according to AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley, not progress in fixing the province's still daunting fiscal problems. The government has gone on a spending spree, abandoning all efforts at keeping its costs under control, and counting on new revenues to balance the books by the end of its mandate and bring in its promised reduction in income taxes. The problem with this strategy is that the rest of the world, including other Canadian provinces, have made much more progress than we have, and are now in a virtuous circle of tax reductions and increased competitiveness.

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Comment le Canada traite le Quebec: Landry se plaint pour les mauvaises raisons

By | March 15th, 2001|In the Media|

Dans un article publie dans Le Devoir, le president de AIMS, Brian Lee Crowley, ainsi que le directeur-executif de l'Institut economique de Montreal, Michel Kelly-Gagnon, expliquent les effets nefastes de 40 ans de paiements de transfert sur le comportement du gouvernement du Quebec ainsi que sur l'economie de la province. La conclusion des auteurs? "Le meilleur moyen d'assurer un avenir plus prospere a la Belle Province n'est pas de la rendre independante d'Ottawa mais plutot de la rendre independante de l'Etat tout court, le provincial comme le federal. Le meme message peut tres bien s'appliquer a l'ensemble du Canada."

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Atlantic business still depends on subsidies

By | March 15th, 2001|In the Media|

In an op-ed piece in the Financial Post section of the National Post, AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley and UNB Economist David Murrell explain that, far from being undersubsidized relative to the national average as some had claimed, Atlantic business overall still is more dependent on subsidies than business in the country as a whole. Moreover, they argue that business subsidies are a rough measure of the lack of competitiveness of local business, and governments and businesses in the region should be working to bring them down in favour of more sensible policies like better infrastructure and education and lower taxes.

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Growth, not government, best friend of the poor

By | March 14th, 2001|In the Media|

The globalization protesters are gearing up to disrupt the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City as they have disrupted other major international gatherings in the past year. One of the key objections to the growth of global markets and trade was summed up by Lori Wallach, one of the leaders of the anti-WTO protests in Seattle. Globalization, she claimed, harmed the poor, preying on the world's most vulnerable: "While the macroeconomic indicators have often looked good, real wages in many countries have declined, and wage inequality has increased both within and between countries." If accurate, that's a pretty damning indictment of global market capitalism. Unfortunately for Ms. Wallach - but not for the poor - it is just the opposite of the truth.

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