Worthwhile Canadian Initiative

In 2017, anyone with earnings was required to pay $4.95 in Canada Pension Plan contributions for every $100 of earnings (up to a maximum earnings threshold of $51,800 - rates here). For the emplo...

https://worthwhile.typepad.com/worthwhile_canadian_initi/2021/03/do-the-self-employed-opt-out-of-the-canada-pension-plan.html

Canadian economist Richard Lipsey would always insist that the Phillips Curve is a curve, and not a straight line. Maybe because wages and prices are stickier down than up. Or maybe because unemp...

https://worthwhile.typepad.com/worthwhile_canadian_initi/2021/03/if-you-wanna-run-hot-you-gotta-run-steady.html

The following is a guest post by Mikal Skuterud of University of Waterloo On February 14, the Federal Government issued 27,332 invitations for permanent residency to Canadian Experience Class (CE...

https://worthwhile.typepad.com/worthwhile_canadian_initi/2021/02/the-economics-of-increasing-immigration-during-an-economic-crisis.html

The following is a guest post by Miguel Casares (Universidad Publica de Navarra, Spain), Paul Gomme (Concordia University), and Hashmat Khan (Carleton University) Of utmost importance is improvin...

https://worthwhile.typepad.com/worthwhile_canadian_initi/2021/02/rapid-vaccinations-can-help-avoid-the-third-wave-in-ontario.html

The following is a guest post by Mikal Skuterud, professor of economics at University of Waterloo Despite my interest in Canadian immigration policy, I’ve been hesitant to read Doug Saunders’...

https://worthwhile.typepad.com/worthwhile_canadian_initi/2021/01/100-million-is-a-really-big-number-a-review-of-doug-saunders-maximum-canada.html

Stop talking about "saving". Talk instead about "demand for assets". You will be happier, and your head will be clearer. Your students too will be happier, and their heads will be clearer. Demand...

https://worthwhile.typepad.com/worthwhile_canadian_initi/2021/01/loanable-funds-redux.html

In 1915, Woodrow Wilson earned $75,000 per year, or $1.9 million in 2018 dollars, for serving as President of the United States. The current incumbent of that office receives only a fraction of t...

https://worthwhile.typepad.com/worthwhile_canadian_initi/2020/11/presidents-do-you-get-what-you-pay-for.html

The Great Barrington Declaration argues against universal lock-downs: Those who are not vulnerable should immediately be allowed to resume life as normal. Simple hygiene measures, such as hand wa...

https://worthwhile.typepad.com/worthwhile_canadian_initi/2020/10/can-the-great-barrington-proposal-save-the-economy.html

Two price-setting monopolists meet in the street. One says to the other: "I will buy 10 more of your overpriced bananas, but only if you buy 10 more of my overpriced apples in return. Deal?" The ...

https://worthwhile.typepad.com/worthwhile_canadian_initi/2020/10/two-price-setting-monopolists-meet-in-the-street.html

Ireland's Supreme Court recently ruled that the buns Subway uses in its sandwiches contain too much sugar to be considered "bread", and are thus subject to Value Added Tax (VAT). The decision lea...

https://worthwhile.typepad.com/worthwhile_canadian_initi/2020/10/pain-brioche-and-the-language-of-taxation.html

Pokémon Go is an economy in miniature. There is exchange: players trade Pokémons and swap gifts. There is scarcity: the balls required to catch Pokémons are scarce, as is Pokémon storage capa...

https://worthwhile.typepad.com/worthwhile_canadian_initi/2020/09/inequality-and-competition-in-a-digital-economy-a-case-study.html

Back in 2014, I wrote a blog post on the end of mandatory retirement for university professors. I quoted a number of men who argued that having a standard retirement age hurts women. Here's an ex...

https://worthwhile.typepad.com/worthwhile_canadian_initi/2020/09/men-women-and-the-end-of-mandatory-retirement.html

This post was written by Mike Veall of the Department of Economics at McMaster University. I appreciated the comments on my earlier post, where I suggested that a small monthly Basic Income syste...

https://worthwhile.typepad.com/worthwhile_canadian_initi/2020/04/veall2.html

This post was written by Mike Veall of the Department of Economics at McMaster University. What if in a future crisis there is again a need to distribute money? As Jennifer Robson put it, “gove...

https://worthwhile.typepad.com/worthwhile_canadian_initi/2020/04/veall.html

I want something you could teach to first or second year economics students. Using tools they already have in their toolkit. MICRO Start with a Demand and Supply model of the market for haircuts....

https://worthwhile.typepad.com/worthwhile_canadian_initi/2020/04/a-simple-micromacro-corona-tax-model-of-the-pandemic.html

Canada's economy may be on life support, but it is still hanging on. Even on streets that seem empty and shuttered, there are a few businesses getting by, or even thriving. The bookstore on Beech...

https://worthwhile.typepad.com/worthwhile_canadian_initi/2020/04/can-you-be-confident-about-an-economy-you-cant-see.html

As the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada begins to peak, there have several discussions and perspectives offered on how prepared Canada was for this pandemic as well as whether we mov...

https://worthwhile.typepad.com/worthwhile_canadian_initi/2020/04/public-health-spending-and-pandemic-preparedness.html

Marie Kondo is the guru behind the best-selling Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and Spark Joy. For some people, like me, her method works. One possible reason for its success is that, underneat...

https://worthwhile.typepad.com/worthwhile_canadian_initi/2020/04/the-behavioural-economics-behind-the-marie-kondo-method.html

The shut down of entire sectors of the economy in response a pandemic is akin to a crop failure. Both represent a sudden, large and unexpected decline in production. Both leave people without res...

https://worthwhile.typepad.com/worthwhile_canadian_initi/2020/04/reading-amartya-sen-on-famines.html

Statistics Canada has just released a dataset with detailed anonymized information on all confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada, available for download here. Unlike many of the available trackers, t...

https://worthwhile.typepad.com/worthwhile_canadian_initi/2020/03/this-is-no-virus-for-old-men.html