Economic Models – The Progressive Economics Forum

Theory and homelessness

September 6, 2022 Nick Falvo One comment

I’m writing an open access e-textbook on homelessness. Chapter 2, focused on theory, has just been published. The full chapter is available here: https://nickfalvo.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Falvo-Chapter-2-Theory-and-homelessness-19aug2022.pdf A ‘top 10’ overview of the chapter can be found here: https://nickfalvo.ca/theory-and-homelessness%ef%bf%bc/ A French version of the ‘top 10’ overview can be found here: https://nickfalvo.ca/theorie-et-itinerance/ All material related to the book is free of charge and […]

What causes homelessness?

April 11, 2022 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

I’m writing an open access e-textbook on homelessness. Each chapter will be uploaded to my website as it becomes available. I’ve just finished Chapter 1 titled “What causes homelessness?” A ‘top 10’ overview of Chapter 1 is available here (in English): https://nickfalvo.ca/what-causes-homelessness/ An ‘top 10’ overview in French is available here: https://nickfalvo.ca/quest-ce-qui-cause-litinerance/ The full chapter is available here (English only): https://nickfalvo.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Falvo-Chapter-1-What-causes-homelessness-4apr2022.pdf

the recession’s likely long-term impact on homelessness

December 10, 2020 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

I’ve just written a report for Employment and Social Development Canada on the current recession’s likely long-term impact on homelessness in Canada. An overview of the report can be found here.

Lifting singles out of poverty in canada

December 3, 2020 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

I’ve written a report for the Institute for Research on Public Policy about social assistance—specifically, about social assistance for employable single adults without dependants. A ‘top 10’ overview of the report can be found here.

Social assistance: Do higher benefit levels lead to higher caseloads?

October 11, 2020 Nick Falvo One comment

As part of my PhD thesis, I did some statistical analysis in which I asked the question: “Do higher social assistance benefit levels lead to higher caseloads?” I have recently updated the data and had it published in a journal. Here’s a short summary of the journal article’s main findings.

Electrification and Climate I: Scale of the Challenge

July 1, 2019 Edgardo Sepulveda 3 comments

Many elements have to come together if Canada is to significantly reduce its greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions. There is now a technical consensus that “electrification” – the replacement of fossil fuels with electricity as an energy source – is a necessary condition for decarbonization, and that electrification will require that zero/low-emission electricity generation double or triple by 2050. In this […]

Rethinking the economics of extreme events

May 15, 2018 Marc Lee Leave a comment

Review of Worst-Case Economics: Extreme Events in Climate and Finance by Frank Ackerman *** Long ago economics was termed “the dismal science,” but in recent years that title has arguably been passed on to climate science, with its regular and dire warnings that humanity needs to rapidly transition off of its use of fossil fuels for energy. In the face […]

A Response to the 2017 Saskatchewan Budget

April 23, 2017 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

I have an opinion piece on Saskatchewan’s recent budget in the Regina Leader-Post. Points raised in the opinion piece include the following: -Reductions in personal and corporate income taxes help the rich more than the poor (and this budget cut both personal and corporate income taxes). -Increases in sales tax hurt the poor more than the rich (and this budget […]

The Alternative Federal Budget 2017

March 20, 2017 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

This year’s Alternative Federal Budget (AFB) was released on March 9. I was proud to be the primary author of its housing chapter (that chapter is available in English here and in French here). The first AFB exercise began in 1994, with the first AFB being published in 1995. That involved a joint effort between the Canadian Centre for Policy […]

Louis-Philippe Rochon’s Top 10 Economic Predictions for 2015

January 11, 2015 Nick Falvo One comment

Louis-Philippe Rochon has written a provocative blog post for the CBC titled “Top 10 Economic Predictions for 2015.” The post is available here.

(Macro) Econ 101

December 16, 2014 David Pringle 3 comments

On December 2, Chris Ragan wrote a column for the Globe and Mail titled â€œAnother (Macro) Defense of Econ 101.â€Â The link to his column is available hereÂ . Â My brief replyÂ wasÂ published in the Globe and Mail on December 13. Â The full version is below: Professor Ragan defends conventional (macro) Econ 101 as a pedagogical tool for training studentsâ€™ minds to […]

CGE models and carbon tax incidence

November 24, 2014 Marc Lee 3 comments

A colleague of mine pointed out a relatively new paper about the distributional impacts of BC’s carbon tax. In my work, we look at actual energy expenditures by different household groups, and because lower income groups spend a greater share of their income on (carbon-intensive) energy, any carbon tax is regressive. But that regressivity ultimately depends on what you do […]

Economics 101

October 26, 2014 Nick Falvo 6 comments

On October 21, Chris Ragan wrote a column for the Globe and Mail titled “In defence of Economics 101.”Â The link to his column is available here. On October 24, Marc Lavoie, Louis-Philippe Rochon and Mario Seccareccia replied to him.Â The link to their response is available here.

The Novel Observations of Jean Tirole?

October 14, 2014 Wenonah Bradshaw One comment

French economist Jean Tirole has won the 2014 Nobel Prize in Economics for his work on industrial organization and regulation, in particular his insights into oligopolies. Â â€œWho is Jean Tirole?, Â many non-economists and some economists are asking today.Â The MIT-educated, Toulouse-based professor is a key figure in the New Industrial Organization (IO) movement.Â The movement, with its roots in the […]

Short Circuited: Assessing Hudakâ€™s Energy Policy

June 5, 2014 Erin Weir Leave a comment

The following is a guest post by Brendan Haley: Jim Stanford and I have written an assessment of the Ontario PCâ€™s energy policy for Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives entitled Short Circuited. In particular, we look into the idea that cancelling renewable energy policies will lead to job creation. Here are some highlights: More Data Problems There has already been […]

What Have we Learned From the Financial Crisis? Part 4: Bernard Vallageas

March 29, 2014 Nick Falvo Leave a comment

What follows are comments from a roundtable discussion held at the University of Ottawa on February 28, organized by Mario Seccareccia, and which featured participation from Marc Lavoie, Louis-Philippe Rochon, Mario Seccareccia, Slim Thabet and Bernard Vallageas. This is PartÂ 4 ofÂ 5Â sequential blog entries. – Bernard Vallageas Vice-prÃ©sident de l’Association pour le DÃ©veloppement des Etudes KeynÃ©siennes (France) Ancien membre Ã©lu du […]

What Have we Learned From the Financial Crisis? Part 3: Mario Seccareccia

March 25, 2014 Nick Falvo 8 comments

What follows are comments from a roundtable discussion held at the University of Ottawa on February 28, organized by Mario Seccareccia, and which featured participation from Marc Lavoie, Louis-Philippe Rochon, Mario Seccareccia, Slim Thabet and Bernard Vallageas. This is Part 3 ofÂ 5Â sequential blog entries. – Mario Seccareccia Professor of Economics, University of Ottawa Editor, International Journal of Political Economy I […]

What Have we Learned From the Financial Crisis? Part 2: Louis-Philippe Rochon

March 25, 2014 Nick Falvo One comment

What follows are comments from a roundtable discussion held at the University of Ottawa on February 28, organized by Mario Seccareccia, and which featured participation from Marc Lavoie, Louis-Philippe Rochon, Mario Seccareccia, Slim Thabet and Bernard Vallageas. This is Part 2 ofÂ 5Â sequential blog entries. – Louis-Philippe Rochon Associate Professor of Economics, Laurentian University Founding co-editor, Review of Keynesian Economics Co-Director, […]

What Have we Learned From the Financial Crisis? Part 1: Marc Lavoie

March 25, 2014 Nick Falvo 2 comments

What follows are comments from a roundtable discussion held at the University of Ottawa on February 28, organized by Mario Seccareccia, and which featured participation from Marc Lavoie, Louis-Philippe Rochon, Mario Seccareccia, Slim Thabet and Bernard Vallageas. PartsÂ 2,Â 3, 4 andÂ 5 will follow in subsequent blog posts. – Marc Lavoie Professor of Economics, University of Ottawa Co-Editor, European Journal of Economics […]

Canadaâ€™s Trade Deficit with the EU Doubles

October 17, 2013 Erin Weir 5 comments

On last nightâ€™s Lang & Oâ€™Leary Exchange, I debunked the claim that the trade deal between Canada and the European Union (EU) will create 80,000 Canadian jobs. The conservative panelists did not even try to defend this figure (see this CBC video, starting at 15:45). As Jim Stanford has previously explained on this blog, the governmentâ€™s model assumes full employment […]

Grounding the Toronto Island Airportâ€™s $1.9-Billion Claim

October 14, 2013 Erin Weir 5 comments

As part of its push to expand to accommodate jet flights, the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport has been advertising that it contributes $1.9 billion to Torontoâ€™s economy. This claim is based on a study that the airport commissioned from InterVISTAS, an airline industry consultancy. The study estimates the airportâ€™s economic impact as of March 2012, not the proposed expansion […]

$12 bil CETA GDP Claim from SimCity, not Real World

November 2, 2012 Jim Stanford One comment

This week’s edition of Embassy newspaper contained a very interesting briefing insert on the Canada-EU CETA talks.Â Below is a commentary from me critiquing the ubiquitous but unbelievable claim that free-trade with Europe would boost Canada’s GDP by $12 billion, create 80,000 jobs, and life incomes by $1000 per family.

Just How Stupid is Niall Ferguson? Very Stupid.

September 24, 2012 Bruce Livesey 12 comments

“But the real point of me isnâ€™t that Iâ€™m good looking. Itâ€™s that Iâ€™m clever. Iâ€™ve got a brain! I would rather be called a highly intelligent historian than a gorgeous pouting oneâ€ – Harvard historian Niall Ferguson, Sept. 2011. One of the predictable habits of the mainstream media is to seek out opinions on worldly matters from so-called academic […]

Dutch Disease on the Rideau

June 13, 2012 Erin Weir One comment

The following is another guest post by Robyn Allan: A report recently released by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute claims Canada does not suffer from the Dutch disease. Unfortunately, the studies the authors draw on for this conclusion are riddled by it. The Dutch disease is a situation where rapid export of a nationâ€™s raw resources along with rising commodity prices inflates […]

Quebec Tuition: Between a Rock and Hard Place?

April 28, 2012 Nick Falvo 17 comments

In the context of student protests over Quebec tuition fees, my friend Luan Ngo has just written a very informative blog post on Quebec’s fiscal situation. While I encourage readers to read his full post, I do want to use the present space to make mention of three important points he makes: -On a per capita basis, Quebec spends more […]

PBO Strikes Again

April 25, 2012 David Macdonald 4 comments

I wanted to tip my hat to the hard working folks at the PBO for a particularly revealing Economic and Fiscal Outlook that was published today. Â While the PBO has more than once eaten my lunch on various issue they’ve done a superb job of looking at Canada’s economic and fiscal position.

McGuinty Budget Would Cut Over 100,000 Jobs

April 23, 2012 Erin Weir 3 comments

Last week, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union released an interesting report by the Centre for Spatial Economics on the economic impact of proposed provincial budget cuts. It provides a timely reminder that the public sector is a crucial component ofÂ the economy, with public spending also supporting many private-sector jobs. The Centre for Spatial Economics concludes that theÂ Liberal budget presented […]

Occupying the Lange and O’Leary Exchange

November 3, 2011 Armine Yalnizyan 12 comments

Starting today I will be on a regular weekly biz panel for the Lang and Oâ€™Leary show, every Thursday night. The panel will take on two six minute segments to discuss the big economic stories of the day. Todayâ€™s proposed topics â€“ the Eurozone mess, whither Canada’s GDP, is Occupy a media invention/will it hold without media attention, upcoming job […]

Notes on the social cost of carbon

July 29, 2011 Marc Lee 8 comments

A recent paper by Ackerman and Stanton did some re-estimates of the Social Cost of Carbon, finding this measure of the externality (or costs imposed on third parties) from burning fossil fuels could be as high as $893 per tonne of CO2, rising to $1,500 per tonne by 2050. These are extreme estimates, but they are calculated using a conservative […]

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