The Canadian Libertarian

 In 1930, interventionist President Herbert Hoover imposed steep tariffs ( an average rate of 60% ) on many industrial and agricultural goods with the passage of Smoot-Halley. The imposition of these increases, which led to the second-highest tariff rates in American history, prompted a sharp retaliatory response from affected European nations, who were also in a serious recession. These retaliatory tariffs devasted the export-dependent American agricultural sector, the collapse of which caused the widespread failure of rural banks. Were it not for Smoot-Halley, and other measures taken by Hoover that aggravated the economic situation, the Great Depression would have been just another brief panic. How then, should Justin Trudeau or his successor respond to the 25% across-the-board tariffs announced yesterday by the US president? There is no question that tariffs on the import of Canadian goods will hurt Canadian producers. That is the point. Nevertheless, our politicians should not...

 Allegations were made today on Reddit about widespread fraud in the Jordan's Principle Program. The idea behind Jordan's Principle (JP) was to provide funding for medical needs for Indigenous children. However, as so often happens with government programs, JP payouts were quickly abused. Hot water tanks, hotel stays, rent payments, back taxes, and an extension on a house were just some of the spurious claims approved by this ridiculous slush fund. As of its inception, 6.44 billion has been spent on JP requests, with 1.6 billion being spent in 2024 alone. Corruption among the Indian bands is nothing new. Recently, allegations were made in court by lawyers representing " 7475323 Manitoba Ltd". The allegations describe how the  Southern Chiefs' Organization Grand Chief Jerry Daniels abused his authority to try to get out of making mortgage payments on a condo he owns in Winnipeg. Specifically, he threatened to quash a $20-million land deal between the Southern Chie...

The Keynesian Theory of Recessions While modern economists are loath to admit it, the dominant view now appears to be that economic schools of thought no longer exist! - the dominant macroeconomic paradigm is still that proposed in Keynes' "A General Theory of Employment, Money, and Interest". Keynes argued that the problem during a recession was a failure of 'aggregate demand'. A lack of consumer spending leads to falling production, which leads to a lack of consumer spending, and so on. A nasty loop. However, there is a solution. The state can leap onto the scene, a veritable deus ex machina, saving the day by pumping money into the system through deficit spending. This spending will put people back to work, and they will spend the money they earn, boosting total production, and increasing spending, until the economy roars again. It's a neat little story, unfortunately, it is total bullshit. Austrian Business Cycle Theory The problem is that we start at the ...

 After twelve long years, Justin Trudeau has finally stepped down but the damage he has done to the Canadian economy will linger on for years. Right now, Canada is in a prolonged economic stagnation. According to Stats Canada , real GDP is presently at the 2017 level. With unemployment at 6.8%, the situation is looking pretty dire. Youth unemployment, aggravated by recent minimum wage hikes, is at 13.9% as of Nov. 2024. Further compounding the problem of lackluster growth is the expansion of public sector employment over the last decade. Public sector employment increased 1% in November, a total of 45,000 positions, accounting for virtually all of the 51,000 increase in jobs. And incase you are wondering how jobs and unemployment can increase simultaneously, it is because the population of Canada is growing by approximately 80,000 people a month. The rapid growth in Federal bureaucracy - an increase of 40% over the last decade - has only been surpassed by our unsustainable levels...