Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Beware Canada – The Libertarians are Coming! (Louder)

Via a former editor’s Twitter feed, the Simon Fraser Institute decides to segment the costs of Canadian health care. For the good of the people, of course: It is critically important, however, that Canadians understand the true cost of Medicare. Armed with a more meaningful estimate, Canadians will be able to better assess whether or […]

Canadian Independence Day Daytime Movie Lineup

Candian Bacon (certainly Michael Moore’s best work of fiction), starring John Candy So I Married an Axe Murderer / Mike Meyers Airplane! / Leslie Nielsen Chain Reaction / Keanu Bright Lights, Big City / Michael J. Fox (who has no Elvis in him, but does good work) I think they’re trying to convince everyone to […]

How many "Free Trade" Economists will thank the Union?

I’ve said before that the “Buy American” provisions in the stimulus bill were not exactly a major issue. (I believe the phrase was roughly, “could drive a broken Mexican truck through the holes, even if dead drunk.”) Many economists (hi, Barkley) disagreed, even while some acknowledged that the income effect from “buying American” would be […]

Good Summary, with Expanded Notes

Ken Houghton Pulled from comments (to the Librarian post at Eschaton): [W]ithout economic knowledge, DFHs don’t understand why the bailout of banks so that they would keep credit flowing is critical, while the bailout of the auto industry caused by the fact that the banks spent the money on acquisitions and executive pay instead of […]

Canadian Content

There are three regular AB posters who currently are residents of the Great White North. So, naturally, it’s a Brooklyn boy who breaks the news that a plurality is not always a majority: The Liberals and New Democrats signed an agreement on Monday to form an unprecedented coalition government, with a written pledge of support […]

Why I Don’t Do Market Timing

Starting in September, my income, such as it were, is basically in C$. Stephen Gordon explains, with graphics, why that has been such a bad trade. The scariest part: The 2002-2008 expansion provided significant real income gains, and more than half of those gains were due to the improvement in Canada’s terms of trade. So […]

Accurate Headline: After three years of U.S. recession, Canada looks East

The WSJ wants to pretend that Barack Obama is responsible for Canada making a good decision: Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France signed an agreement Friday to begin negotiations for a free trade pact between Canada and the European Union. A Canada-EU study released last week outlines the joint economic benefits […]