The rules that have guided our economy no longer apply
Did you notice that 2022 began with far fewer forecasts and outlooks than are usually seen when we put up our new annual calendars? And most of those who bravely made predictions for 2022 have already been proven wrong. The emergence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, just when everyone was eagerly anticipating the end…
A global minimum corporate tax is a 20th-century solution imposed on the 21st-century, where the digital realm is disrupting taxation
World leaders should resist U.S. pressure to enact a global minimum corporate tax, despite a recent move by the G7 countries to adopt the plan. It would harm corporations, small companies, workers and consumers while discouraging investment and wealth creation. If anything, the world needs more competition for post-pandemic recovery. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s…
Project will provide training and mentorship to help emerging scholars from Canada and Africa diversify their knowledge and skills
The University of Alberta is partnering with three West African universities to mentor and build tomorrow’s diverse community leaders and global intellectuals through a new project. Powered by a $300,000 grant from the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship (QES) Advanced Scholars West Africa program, the initiative supports research-focused exchanges for doctoral researchers, post-doctoral fellows and early career academics…
Internetization is revolutionizing our lives. But too many parts of Canada lack the electronic capacity needed to take advantage of it
Earlier this year, I was invited to deliver the keynote address at the 36th annual international conference of the Business & Economics Society International in Italy in July. But COVID-19 intervened and the conference was transformed to a virtual platform. I delivered my keynote address from my living room in Fredericton, N.B. The title of…
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us how connected and interdependent we truly are as a global community
I’ve been blessed with many great sports experiences in my life. Since I was seven years old, I’ve loved playing and watching sports. I enjoy many aspects of sports but what I love the most is the camaraderie. More specifically, it’s the sense of fulfilment that comes from being part of something bigger than myself,…
Some vital economic sectors require government support and protection in order to grow and mature and not be held hostage to foreign influence
An old and obscure economic theory should have shaped the Canadian response to the COVID-19 global pandemic. Sometimes we need to go back to find the right path forward. The infant industry argument was first proposed by Alexander Hamilton in 1791. He made a case for the United States government to protect fledgling industries against…
Author Valerie Hansen demonstrates that the concept of international trading networks and linkages goes back a very long way
Valerie Hansen is an American academic who teaches history at Yale. She also writes books, of which 2012’s The Silk Road is perhaps the best known. Hansen’s latest book is The Year 1000. Provocatively subtitled When Explorers Connected the World – and Globalization Began, it’s a recounting of interconnectedness in the five centuries between 1000…
Who defines what’s essential and should thus be sourced domestically, even if it’s more expensive to do so?
Autarky is an uncommon word that’s become a lot more common lately. It defines the extent to which a country chooses to be self-sufficient, thereby abjuring international trade. Typically, autarky is seen as an impoverishing thing. And it usually is. But in the current debate, it’s a red herring of the highest order. In order…
The modern border is porous, malleable and surmountable. It’s not an effective deterrent for undesirable political, social, medical or economic consequences
What do the global financial crisis of 2008, climate change and the COVID-19 global pandemic have in common? All three catastrophic events have confirmed that they don’t build borders the way they used to. Today, national borders are no match for globalization. In effect, borders have been overpowered and outsmarted by globalization. There’s no denying…
Blame free-market globalization, and the accompanying wage stagnation and declines in middle-class living standards
Even Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters admit that he's impulsive and about as presidential as a bull in a China shop. In normal times, Trump would never have been nominated by the Republican Party and would certainly not have been elected president of the United States. But these aren't normal times. Far from it. After…