Economy

David Dodge Praises Central Bank; Recommends Policy Responses to Credit Crisis
The Bank of Canada must remain focused on its long-term monetary framework of inflation-targeting and a flexible exchange rate, as it makes shorter-term policy responses to the credit crisis, says David Dodge, former Governor of the Bank of Canada. In the C.D. Howe Institute’s 2008 Benefactors Lecture, Dodge argued that this framework is ideally suited to achieving both price stability and a sustainable economic outlook, and made recommendations for domestic and international policy reforms in response to the credit crisis.
http://www.cdhowe.org/pdf/benefactors_lecture_2008.pdf

 

The Resource Boom: Impacts on Provisional Purchasing Power

From 2003 to 2007, the rising price of commodities, falling import prices and the appreciating dollar led to gains in purchasing power for most provinces concludes a new Statistics Canada report. The survey illustrates the differential impact on regional economies of relative price changes stemming from commodity price movements, exchange rate changes and changes in international manufactured goods prices.

http://www.statcan.ca/english/research/11-624-MIE/11-624-MIE2008021.pdf

 

What to Do Now That the Panic Has Ended

A reasoned approach to dealing with the financial crisis should focus on market forces, rather than displacing them or pretending that they do not exist or function properly, claims Mark Mullins of the Fraser Institute. According to Mullins, the current anti-market rhetoric is not conducive to such dispassionate analysis and the world risks magnifying the next crisis and reducing economic growth prospects as a result.

http://www.fraserinstitute.org/newsandevents/commentaries/6344.aspx

 

Agglomeration Economies: Microdata Panel Estimates from Canadian Manufacturing

Productivity and wages tend to be higher in cities. This is typically explained by agglomeration economies, which increase the returns associated with urban locations. Competing arguments of specialization and diversity undergird these claims, however, and a new research paper from Statistics Canada attempts to identify the main sources of these increased returns. http://www.statcan.ca/english/research/11F0027MIE/11F0027MIE2008049.pdf

 

A Living Wage for Toronto

In a new report for the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives, Hugh Mackenzie and Jim Stanford write that Ontario is the only province in Canada in which the proportion of jobs that pay $10 an hour or less increased in the last decade – 17.4%. In addition, they say that food bank use in Ontario has increased by 14% between 2001 and 2007, this occurring while the province’s economy was growing. The authors explore the ways in which things might deteriorate now that the economy is heading into recession.

http://www.policyalternatives.ca/~ASSETS/DOCUMENT/Ontario_Office_Pubs/2008/A_Living_Wage_for_Toronto.pdf

 

 

Foreign Affairs

An Open Letter to the President-Elect

“Canada and the United States are neighbours, friends, partners and allies. We have shown an impressive ability over the years to work together in ways that have strengthened our societies and produced tangible benefits for our people,” writes Thomas d’Aquino, Chief Executive and President of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives in a recent open letter to President-elect Barack Obama. In his note to the President-elect, D’Aquino extols the special relationship between the U.S. and Canada, highlighting Canada’s involvement in Afghanistan, Canada’s shared goals and values, as well as the millions of jobs that enable the steady flow of goods and services across the border each day. http://www.ceocouncil.ca/en/view/?area_id=1&document_id=1282

 

A Composite Index of Economic Integration in the Asia-Pacific Region

In a new study, Chen Bo of Simon Fraser University and Yuen Pau Woo of the Asia-Pacific Foundation of Canada measure economic integration in the Asia-Pacific (AP) region using a composite index. From a balanced panel data covering 17 representative AP economies from 1990 to 2005, they find that economic integration in the region has increased during the period 1990-2005. Among the 17 sample economies, Singapore and Hong Kong are the most integrated with the AP region, while the Indonesia and China are the least.

http://www.asiapacific.ca/files/Analysis/2008/PECCIntegrationIndex.pdf

 

 

Domestic Politics

A Missed Rendezvous with a Majority

Writing for the Institute for Research on Public Policy, Ian MacDonald examines Stephen Harper’s missed opportunity at a majority government. MacDonald argues that Mr. Harper called the 2008 election primarily because he saw a window open on a majority, and because he would rather determine the timing of the election than have it dictated to him by the opposition. MacDonald claims that while initially the numbers for a Conservative majority were there, Mr. Harper’s “indifferent” performance in the leaders’ debates on the global financial crisis created a substantial roadblock. http://www.irpp.org/po/archive/nov08/macdonald2.pdf

 

 

Social Policy

Study Shows At-risk Children Get Boost from Daycare

Access to high quality daycare at a young age would help at-risk children be prepared for school and give them a better chance of succeeding later in life, according to a study released by the Institute for Research on Public Policy. The study’s author, Christa Japel of the Université du Québec à Montréal, notes that as children are exposed to more risk factors, their behavioural difficulties increase and their cognitive performance decreases. As such, there needs to be early, intensive and continuous intervention from pregnancy to school, and more space in daycares reserved for children with special needs, says Japel. http://www.irpp.org/choices/archive/vol14no16.pdf

Podcast: http://www.irpp.org/choices/archive/vol14no16_podcast.mp3

 

Federal and Alberta Government Programs for Early Childhood Development

The Canada West Foundation’s Ken Boessenkool and Evan Wilson explore various government programs available to children under the age of six in Alberta in order to improve public policy aimed at early childhood development. Their new report provides a basic understanding of programs that are currently offered and offers valuable insight into best practices. The authors intend to expand their findings in Alberta across the rest of Canada. http://www.cwf.ca/V2/files/ECD%20Paper.pdf

 

Social Policy in Canada — Looking Back, Looking Ahead

In a study focused on social policy in Canada, Peter Hicks of Queens University’s School of Policy Studies discusses recent policy trends, the challenging role of the various actors in the system, international comparisons and a range of other social policy topics. Hicks also examines why social policy analysts need to look into the future, and explores ways of managing the inevitably large risks associated with such forward-looking exercises. http://www.queensu.ca/sps/publications/working_papers/46-Hicks.pdf

 

 

Science and Technology

Astronomers Capture First Images of Another Solar System

In an unprecedented discovery, a team of Canadian, American and British astronomers – led by astronomer Christian Marois of the National Research Council of Canada – has employed telescopes atop the summit of a dormant Hawaiian volcano to capture images of three giant planets orbiting a star known as HR 8799, the first known images of another solar system. Comparisons of images obtained in different years show that the three planets, each roughly ten times the mass of Jupiter, are all moving with and orbiting around the star, proving that they are associated with it and are part of a solar system.

http://www.news.utoronto.ca/science-and-technology/astronomers-capture-first-images-of-another-solar-system.html

 

Galapagos Finches Yield New Evolutionary Insights

Researchers from McGill University, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and Randolph Macon College have discovered an interesting pattern of natural selection among finches of the Galapagos Islands. The rarely seen pattern known as “disruptive natural selection” offers a glimpse into the inner workings of speciation, or how new species arise from common ancestors, and the central role that environmental conditions play in the process. http://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/news/item/?item_id=102703

 

 

Culture

Winners of 2008 Governor General’s Literary Awards Announced

Two four-time winners are among the list of winners of the 2008 Governor General’s Literary Awards announced this week by the Canada Council for the Arts. The awards are given in the categories of fiction, poetry, drama, non-fiction, children’s literature (text and illustration) and translation, in English and in French.  The names of the winners and titles of their works are listed at: http://www.canadacouncil.ca/news/releases/2008/ep128714281236840064.htm

 

 

Education

Students Score in Global Challenge

David Beckham helped University of British Columbia (UBC) business school students score a winning shot during a recent Google competition that demanded both cyber smarts and marketing prowess. A team of Sauder School of Business students placed in the top ten percent of the first-ever Google Online Marketing Challenge, which required entrants to devise an effective online campaign for a local business. The Sauder students honed in on keywords like “David Beckham” to boost ticket sales for a Vancouver Whitecaps versus Los Angeles Galaxy exhibition soccer game that took place in Edmonton this May. UBC was one of four Canadian universities taking part in the Google challenge – one that attracted more than 1,600 student teams from 47 countries.

http://www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/ubcreports/2008/08nov06/google.html?src=ubcca

For more on the Google Marketing challenge: http://www.google.com/onlinechallenge/

 

University of Alberta Debuts First Nations Colleges Information Gateway

For the first time ever, First Nations colleges in Alberta will have online access to their own collections and a wide selection of culturally significant academic materials shared by other post-secondary institutions in the province. The First Nations Information Connection will allow students and faculty in six First Nations colleges to take full advantage of the Lois Hole Campus Alberta Digital Library at the University of Alberta.  http://www.expressnews.ualberta.ca/newsreleases.cfm?id=9767