The federal Fiscal Monitor data for July 2023

This post summarizes the latest Fiscal Monitor data to help Canadians better understand recent developments in public finances. In addition, we use the monthly data to construct projections for total federal revenue, expenses and the budget balance by the end of the fiscal year. Read this articleThe federal Fiscal Monitor data for July 2023

The federal Fiscal Monitor data for January 2023

This post summarizes recent developments in the Fiscal Monitor data to help Canadians better understand recent developments in public finances. In addition, we use the monthly data to construct projections for total federal revenue, expenses and the budget balance by the end of the fiscal year. Read this articleThe federal Fiscal Monitor data for January 2023

The federal Fiscal Monitor data for December 2022

This post summarizes recent developments in the Fiscal Monitor data to help Canadians better understand recent developments in federal public finances. In addition, we use the monthly data to construct projections for total federal revenue, expenses and the budget balance by the end of the fiscal year. Read this articleThe federal Fiscal Monitor data for December 2022

The federal Fiscal Monitor data for November 2022

Parliament Buildings

This post summarizes recent developments in the Fiscal Monitor data to help Canadians better understand recent developments in federal public finances. In addition, we use the monthly data to construct projections for total federal revenue, expenses and the budget balance by the end of the fiscal year. Read this articleThe federal Fiscal Monitor data for November 2022

No ‘free lunch’ with debt-financed government spending

Warning about running deficits

Proponents focus on the average fiscal cost of program spending when the interest rate on government debt is less than the economy’s growth rate. They ignore the potentially large marginal fiscal cost of deficit-financed increases in spending that arise when a higher public debt increases interest rates on government debt and lowers growth rates. Read this articleNo ‘free lunch’ with debt-financed government spending

Canada is a big spender on health care but we lag behind countries in results

In the end, it is not only how much or how little you spend but what you spend it on and what you get for it. Canadian health care is not bad, but it could be better, given the amount of money being spent. Read this articleCanada is a big spender on health care but we lag behind countries in results

The Conservative Party’s innovation platform: a mixed bag of good, bad, and indifferent policies

Canada’s innovation policy framework could be changed for the better. Unfortunately, not all the measures proposed in the Conservative platform offer clear-cut improvements. Read this articleThe Conservative Party’s innovation platform: a mixed bag of good, bad, and indifferent policies

Defund This

Municipal police budgets have been rising steadily in most major cities for many years, despite stable police employment and declining crime rates, and the average big-city resident pays $390 annually for the municipal police operating budget. The exception is Toronto, where police employment and per capita spending have been declining since 2010. While by no means “defunding the police,” Toronto has had moderate success in controlling police budgets in recent years. Despite budget reductions, criminality and crime clearance rates continue to evolve similarly in Toronto and other big cities. Read this articleDefund This