Governments often fail to account for the behavioural effects spurred by its personal income tax rate hikes
By Steve Lafleur and Charles Lammam The Fraser Institute The Alberta government recently abandoned the province’s single 10 per cent tax rate on personal income in favour of a five-bracket system with a top rate of 15 per cent – a move that will reduce Alberta’s competitiveness and cause undue harm on an already struggling…
Alberta's tech sector needs to escape the Starvation Zone to become successful commercial businesses
Here we go again. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley is commissioning a panel to study methods to diversify Alberta’s economy. The public may be forgiven for shrugging their shoulders; after all, diversification has – theoretically – been a top priority since former Premier Peter Lougheed. The truth is, when it comes to diversification, we know what…
Alberta’s fiscal woes are the result of uncontrolled spending over the past decade
By Steve Lafleur and Charles Lammam The Fraser Institute Alberta’s budget, to be unveiled on Oct. 27, will contain the province’s seventh deficit in the last eight years, most recently projected at $5.9 billion. A popular narrative blames declining oil prices for the government’s deteriorating financial situation. However, as a recent Fraser Institute study found,…
Alberta’s energy sector better start checking the rents in Saskatchewan and British Columbia
The government of Alberta has released its Climate Leadership Discussion Document, which is supposed to inform citizens about climate change and prepare them for a public opinion survey on the subject. Every Albertan should read the Discussion Document closely. The Document makes it abundantly clear that despite all the nice words that the Notley government…
The practical challenges of implementing a GAI mitigate its success
By Charles Lammam and Hugh MacIntyre The Fraser Institute The old idea of a guaranteed annual income (GAI) recently received renewed attention thanks to Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi and Edmonton mayor Don Iveson. Both mayors hope the new provincial government is sympathetic to the idea, prompting several pundits to muse about a GAI program for…
The new NDP government lays the groundwork for a more prosperous BC and Saskatchewan
In its recent Speech from the Throne, the new Alberta government reiterated its plans to make life more expensive in Alberta. Over time, the NDP government will a) raise business income tax by 20 per cent (to 12 per cent from 10 per cent), b) hike the minimum wage by almost 50 per cent (to…
Fixing a spending problem with higher taxes that erode competitiveness is not a solution
By Ben Eisen and Charles Lammam The Fraser Institute Alberta’s economy is still on shaky ground as oil prices remain depressed relative to last year’s levels. Against this backdrop enters a new NDP government led by Premier Rachel Notley. While her government cannot be blamed for the economic state of the province, it can certainly…
Policies based on party dogma won’t solve the province’s problems
By Charles Lammam and Jason Clemens The Fraser Institute The new NDP government in Alberta has indicated it will aggressively increase the province’s minimum wage from $10.20 to $15 per hour over the next three years. There are a number of problems with this campaign promise that is now becoming policy. Ignoring experience and pursuing…The assumptions underpinning Alberta’s economy are wrong
Alberta is changing. It has a new NDP government, a scary new fiscal ‘reality’ with $60 oil and a millennial generation coming of age with a new lease on life. But Alberta is also linked to the past and a very particular set of economic assumptions. Alberta’s economic strategy remains solidly industrial, predicated on oil…
Rent control has been a disaster wherever it’s been tried, but that’s never stopped politicians from suggesting it
Rent control has been a disaster wherever it’s been tried. But this never stops politicians from suggesting it. Last November, the leader of the then-fourth place party in the Alberta legislature, now newly minted Premier Rachel Notley argued that Alberta needed rent control. Bad idea. To understand why, consider a simple example. Let’s suppose a…