Posts by Stephen Gordon

Canada’s Prime Minister Trudeau and Finance Minister Morneau walk to the House of Commons to deliver the budget on Parliament Hill in Ottawa

The Liberals are spending far more than they said they would

Economist Stephen Gordon unpacks the federal government’s finances to explain why the deficit is so much bigger than Trudeau promised

Economic analysis

For Canada’s economy it seems the worst of the oil crash is over

We can’t read too much into a single quarter, but the period of weak growth and declining incomes appears to be over

Economic analysis

How the Liberals could balance the budget—if they have the will

With the budget, the Liberals have taken a page out of the Conservative plan for program expenditures. But there are many reasons to think it won’t work.

Federal budget lock-up in Ottawa March 22, 2016. Photograph by Blair Gable

Economic analysis

Will Finance really stick to its deficit prediction for 2015?

After 11 months of surpluses, Ottawa still says 2015 will end with an annual deficit. March will have to be a horrible month.

Economic analysis

How to evaluate the Liberals’ first budget

It’s both easier and harder than it seems, writes economist Stephen Gordon

Economic analysis

Why do the Liberals insist on projecting a deficit for this year?

Economist Stephen Gordon has studied Ottawa’s finances and sees a surplus for 2015-16. Are the Liberals playing ’silly games’ with their deficit talk?

Economic analysis

Why has federal tax revenue exceeded projections?

While it makes sense that weakened economic growth would lower government revenues, it’s getting harder to make that story fit the data

Economic analysis

Stephen Gordon: Liberals’ deficit claim doesn’t add up

It will be easier for the Liberals to run on their plan of deficits if they can credibly claim they inherited one from the Conservatives. They can’t.

Ottawa

Q&A with Jean-Yves Duclos: Economist and new cabinet minister

Q&A: Jean-Yves Duclos, former head of the economics department at Laval University and now minister of families, children and social development

Economic analysis

How to understand that controversial study of Quebec daycare

Stephen Gordon explains what the paper examining the Quebec daycare program reveals, and the ensuing controversy

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