And help Albertans cope with the scary roller coaster that is the economy
Albertans received the pleasant news that their deficit-plagued provincial government might bank a surplus for their concluding fiscal year and could very well experience the same this year. The reason for this happy state of financial affairs is the elevated price levels of oil and natural gas – coming just as a resurgence in the…
Operational and funding costs are huge: $548M in 2019 (before COVID-19) and $597M in 2021
Investment managers and investors should often ask: If I didn’t already own this stock, would I buy it today? By any criteria, Via Rail, a federal Crown corporation, is not a good investment – even under unrealistically favourable assumptions. The federal government should rigorously examine this charitably-designated ‘enterprise,’ then aim it toward one of two…
Climate change fanaticism led to Putin's War
A few weeks ago, there was a violent First Nations-climate extremist attack on a Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline construction site in British Columbia. In a seemingly unrelated development, German leaders decided last year to rapidly phase out nuclear energy with nothing to replace it. Also last year, the United States chose not to approve two pipelines.…
The next few months may only bring stagnation but a full-blown recession is more likely
‘Financial repression’ refers to governments or central banks, such as the Bank of Canada or the U.S. Federal Reserve Board, intervening in financial markets to suppress interest rates. Central banks have been intervening for nearly two years, causing a serious disruption in the financial markets. The official rates of the Bank of Canada and the Federal…
The leaders of the so-called “Free World” are in an ineffectual muddle
The predictable invasion of Ukraine by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has put the outgunned Ukrainian forces in a very difficult situation. The leaders of the so-called “Free World” are in an ineffectual muddle. Surprisingly, Germany is finally making solid moves to shore up its military and become a NATO leader. Germany, a NATO financial delinquent,…
NATO largely ignored the ethnic, cultural, religious and other aspects of how Afghans live
The hasty, defeatist and craven withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces from Afghanistan in August has compelled the “civilized” Western nations and their leaders to confront the failures and errors of the past 20 years, which resemble those of earlier conflicts. The initial supposed conquest of Afghanistan relegated the remnants of the Taliban zealots to…
Bad government decisions have one thing in common: lack of independent oversight
A litany of disastrous government decisions in Canada have sometimes cost lives and definitely many billions of dollars. The list is long: effectively cancelling the Global Public Health Intelligence Network; the failure to implement the pandemic preparedness protocols developed by the federal government’s public health officer; the Alberta government’s disastrous ‘investments’ in the Keystone XL…
Raising corporate taxes would hurt firms’ profitability and growth. Employment and wages would suffer
The finance ministers of more than 130 nations and territories have arrived at a tentative agreement to create a tax floor – a minimum corporate tax rate of a proposed 15 per cent. Its proponents, sadly including Canada, claim it will create a "level playing field" and stop a "race to the bottom." Some nations face…
Rationality can prevail, clean, abundant natural gas can be used for decades, energy ‘transition’ or not
An estimated $55-billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) project to take natural gas from northeastern British Columbia to its northwest coast at Pearse Island recently received the blessing and financial and political backing of the Nisga’a First Nation. The First Nation is on the proposed pipeline route and is the site of planned liquefaction terminal. This…
Totalitarian societies such as China require conformity and loyalty, not independence of thought
One of the most notable features of Nazi Germany was its anti-intellectualism. While it claimed to be at the forefront of scientific and technical advances, its ideology and totalitarian rule made free enquiry and interchange between scientists and other technical people untenable. Researchers became wary of making bold assertions, even when backed by solid evidence…