The government should not fill out your tax return for you.
Portrait of the American novelist Ayn Rand.
Some of the effects of the minimum wage increase in the province of Ontario.
The state and revenues generated by the products of vice.
Canada does not need a food policy.
What Are the Benefits of Economic Freedom?
Portrait of Economist Lawrence H. White.
Portrait of the Economist Lawrence H. White.
The Quebec election campaign.
Centralization of access to information and its politicization.
The OECD’s portrait of Canada’s economic situation is somewhat calamitous.
Spending more is not synonymous with better results for schools and students.
Portrait of economist Carl Menger.
Portrait of economist Carl Menger.
The car situation in downtown Grenoble.
Portrait of journalist and author Daniel Hannan.
The negative consequences of unionism.
Ontario is tending more and more toward the Quebec model.
Quebec’s public finances versus Ontario’s.
For decades, Quebec has been known for its rotten public finances: recurrent deficits, lots of spending, and high taxes. But the provincial budgets tabled this spring by the governments of both Quebec and Ontario suggest that the latter province is now competing for the top prize in terms of financial recklessness.
Portrait of Economist Joseph Alois Schumpeter.
Portrait of Economist Joseph Alois Schumpeter.
Quebec’s debt keeps on growing.
The impact of the restrictive rules imposed on Quebec maple syrup producers.
Hydro Quebec and Cryptomoney mining companies.
The link between economic freedom and happiness.
Government control over access to medical training hurts patients.
Poverty is constantly declining in the world.
The role of the private sector in the field of CHSLDs and rehabilitation centers.
The type of hospital care offered by the Quebec government.
Why should Canada Post maintain its monopoly?
Portrait of economist Israel Kirzner.
Portrait of economist Israel Kirzner.
Review of the year in economics matters.
Quebec announces tax cuts.
Vices are big business for the government.
Obesity and a tax on sugary drinks.
Portrait of Professor of Economics and Philosophy, Peter J. Boettke.
Portrait of Economist Friedrich A. Hayek.
A new generation with old ideas on the federal political scene.
Portrait of economist Ludwig von Mises.
Quebec’s Health Minister recently gave an ultimatum to the province’s hospitals such that emergency room stays could no longer exceed 24 hours. While our health system has failed for years to significantly reduce wait times, the performance of a Swedish hospital (the Saint Göran, a Stockholm hospital funded by the government and run by Capio, a private multinational company) should inspire decision-makers within our health care system.
Automation brings beneficial results.
The transformation of social programs into employment programs for civil servants.
Nicotine delivery methods and their risks.
When the State replaces the private sector.
The cost of the softwood lumber dispute between Canada and the United States.
Portrait of economist George Stigler (1911-1991).
Portrait of Professor of Economics and Philosophy Peter Boettke.
July 17, 2017 | 39 min. 50 sec. | Isabelle (98,5FM) Interview (in French) with Jasmin Guénette, Vice President of Operations at the […]
For thirty years, the Quebec health care system has experienced multiple systemic problems, especially in terms of long emergency room wait times, and long delays for surgeries as well. Not only has the Health Department been unable to plan the long-term development of the system in such a way as to put an end to these problems once and for all; it also seems unable to allocate resources efficiently when the unexpected occurs. What is so different about the health care sector? And what can be done about it?
Quebecers and their health care system.
Portrait of Leonard Edward Read, founder of the Foundation for Economic Education.
The International Public Service Day.
The impact of large governments.
Portrait of economist Deirdre McCloskey.
Sweden, and how it provides better access to care.
The Quebec government wants to centralize the health care system even more with Bill 130, giving the Health Minister more power over administrators and over the management and operation of hospitals. The government would be better off following the example of Sweden, which has successfully moved in the opposite direction, in addition to benefiting from the contribution of the private sector.
The impact of Bill 81 on consumers.
Competition and its effects on the cost of goods and services.
The impact of the current system of tuition fees on universities.
Portrait of economist Gordon Tullock.
The private sector's contribution in the health care field.
Artists and thinkers are mobilizing to defend the environment.
Portrait of Nobel Prize-winning economist Vernon L. Smith.
Reducing needless risks surrounding innovation in environmental matters should lead to more innovation.
The difficult dismissal of incompetent teachers.
How to modernize the Quebec's union movement.
Al Gore's predictions of impending disaster.
Portrait of Nobel Prize-winning economist Friedrich A. Hayek.
The impact of taxes on the poor.
Is Bixi worth $60 million?
The Bixi bike-sharing system will soon start its ninth season. Since its creation in the spring of 2009, Bixi has survived thanks to public funds. What does the bill add up to for Montreal taxpayers? If the goal was to promote the use of bicycles and active transportation, could the funds allocated to this service have been better spent?
Is Bixi worth $60 million?
The government must control its expenditures.
Is Bixi worth $60 million?
Gentrification is a desirable phenomenon.
The federal government should withdraw from the health sector.
March 3, 2017 | 11 min. 40 sec. | Québec aujourd'hui (BLVD 102.1 FM) Interview (in French) with Jasmin Guénette, Vice President […]
Quebec announces news measures to encourage companies to keep their head offices in the province.
What should the next federal budget do?
There are more and more examples of artists who take charge of their destiny.
The federal government should withdraw from the health sector.
Quebecers give little to charities.
Simpler and less costly regulation for food trucks in Montreal.
February 21, 2017 | 11 min. 33 sec. | Le Tour d'Horizon (92,7FM-Ottawa) Interview (in French) with Jasmin Guénette, Vice President of […]
Since last fall, the Canadian health care system has once again become a source of bickering. The federal government, which is a significant funder of the provinces’ health programs, wants to limit the rate of increase of its transfers and force provinces to spend on specific areas like mental health and home care. The territories and certain provinces have bowed to pressure from Ottawa, but four of the five most populous provinces are still refusing the federal offer. While it is political in nature, economic analysis of this conflict can provide some useful insights.
The federal government should withdraw from the health sector.
The city is reducing the number of parking spots on the Plaza St-Hubert.
Provinces need to reduce their needlessly heavy regulatory burdens.
The absurd laws that govern the construction industry.
Introduction of a personal finance course in high school for the next school year.
Why do countries that engage in free trade become richer?
The impact of regulation on certain sectors of the economy.
Portrait of Nobel Prize-winning economist Ronald Coase.
Issues to look for in the year 2017.
The impact of the approval of two major pipeline projects.
The tax burden of Quebec taxpayers.
November 30, 2016 | 27 min. 07 sec. | Isabelle (98,5FM) Interview (in French) with Jasmin Guénette, Vice President of the MEI, […]
The state of health services in Quebec.
The economic benefits of legalizing marijuana.
The empirical connection between entrepreneurship and economic freedom.
Federal civil servants are without pay for weeks.
The left/right labels and the 2016 US elections.
The federal deficit is rising, far beyond what was projected in the Liberal's election platform.
Portrait of Nobel Prize-winning economist Douglass North.
The presence of a mixed health care system accessible to all.
The tendency toward centralization has undermined the competitiveness of the forestry sector.
Quebec wants to develop the economy and entrepreneurship.
Over time, the Quebec government has modified, on several occasions, the forest regime that governs the activities of the forestry industry. This Research Paper reviews the history of the forest concessions regime, the TSFMA regime, and the main events that influenced the new 2013 forest regime. It also proposes reforms inspired by the positive aspects of the former regimes and of practices that prevail elsewhere.
Some cities are reducing their spending in sectors like public transport.
Government spending and policies to stimulate the economy.
Advertising-related regulations.
Plain packaging and the food sector.
James M. Buchanan and public choice theory.
Portrait of the influential economist Ludwig von Mises.
Montreal taxpayers lost more than 19 million $ in the BIXI adventure.
The conflict between the taxi industry and Uber.
Protectionism provides benefits for a limited group, all while harming a majority.
The widespread costs and concentrated benefits of softwood lumber protectionism.
September 7, 2016 | 17 min. 51 sec. | Drex Live (AM 980) Interview with Jasmin Guénette, Vice President of the MEI, […]
The debates over the $15 minimum wage, the 6 hours working day, and the guaranteed minimum income.
September 1st, 2016 | 26 min. 08 sec. | Boulevard du Pacifique (Radio-Canada) Interview (in French) with Jasmin Guénette, Vice President of […]
Ayn Rand's moral defence of capitalism.
The Caisse de dépôt et placement goes to the rescue of the Port-Daniel cement plant.
The many Quebec companies buying foreign competitors are rarely making the news.
The means deployed to combat the Airbnb phenomenon.
Canada Post: an inefficient public monopoly.
Opening in Montreal of the World Social Forum.
The cost of the Olympics.
The consequences of a strike at the Old Port of Montreal.
The essential government missions.
July 28, 2016 | 6 min. 33 sec. | Midi info (Radio-Canada) Interview (in French) with Jasmin Guénette, Vice President of the […]
Gentrification is a process whereby middle-class families and young professionals establish themselves in working-class urban neighbourhoods. By no means unique to Montreal, this process has generated some resistance on the part of anti-gentrification activists, some of whom have resorted to violent means in the belief that they are being displaced. Yet gentrification is a widespread phenomenon that yields largely beneficial outcomes for everyone—including the poorest members of society—and whose negative effects can be mitigated by sound economic policy.
Gentrification, when combined with sound housing policy, helps everyone, including the poor.
Gentrification, when combined with sound housing policy, helps everyone, including the poor.
Portrait of the influential economist Milton Friedman.
Quebec now has a budget surplus.
Deficits have eroded Alberta's advantage.
Quebec now has a budget surplus.
The development of new drugs allows patients to lead longer, healthier lives and leads to savings elsewhere in the health care system.
The Quebec public sector's debt.
Oil exploration on Anticosti Island.
Why do hockey players make so much money?
The effect of price controls.
The high cost of rent control.
The impact of road works in the streets of Montreal.
The impact of road works in the streets of Montreal.
The economic and social catch up in Quebec during the "Great Darkness."
Greenpeace and logging in Quebec.
The benefits for consumers and workers of liberalizing mobile food vending in Montreal.
The benefits for consumers and workers of liberalizing mobile food vending in Montreal.
Since 2013, there has been a loosening of the decades-long ban on mobile food vending in Montreal. Such steps place Montreal squarely within a wider movement throughout North America to allow greater entrepreneurship at the municipal level. In spite of this positive step, however, the large potential benefits to both consumers and workers are being undermined by heavy regulation. This Viewpoint highlights those benefits and explains how the regulatory framework surrounding mobile food vendors in Montreal remains much too constraining.
Earth Day 2016 and predictions of doom.
The cost of the Olympics.
Economically free countries tend to be the ones that enjoy greater freedom of the press.
The roles and responsibilities that unions have towards their workers in Quebec.
Calls for the introduction of a minimum wage of $ 15.
Our governments have the tendency to imitate others for their public policies.
Loto-Québec and online gambling.
Free education, an expensive and bad idea.
The maple syrup monopoly in Quebec.
Bill 81 raises several questions.
Bill 81 raises several questions.
Quebec’s health care system continues to underperform compared to those in the rest of Canada and in other Commonwealth countries.
Robin Hood and the consequences of a high level of taxation.
The development of the petroleum industry and its economic impact.
The concept of negative interest rates.
Quebec winemakers win the right to distribute their products directly to retailers.
Despite numerous superficial reforms and a growing budget, health care systems in Canada still do not live up to expectations. As part of the MEI’s health care research program, its Vice President, Mr. Jasmin Guénette, met with medical doctors and policy experts in order to better understand which reforms are likely to make our health care systems more efficient, without jeopardizing the universality of care.
December 11, 2015 | 20 min. | Gravel dans le retour (CHOI-FM) Interview (in French) with Jasmin Guénette, Vice President of the […]
The economic benefits to legalizing marijuana.
Quebec introduces a ban on tobacco company loyalty programs for convenience stores.
Report on the situation of the forest in Quebec.
SAQ : The end of a monopoly?
The benefits of ride-sharing applications.
Subcontracting certain auxiliary tasks performed by police officers to security agents would allow a reduction in the cost of police services.
How to improve the Quebec public service's efficiency?
The likely costs in terms of jobs and economic activity of conservation measures to protect the boreal caribou.
Many environmental groups propose to considerably reduce forestry activities in Quebec, with the presumed goal of protecting the woodland caribou. As part of our research program on Quebec’s forests, the Vice President of the MEI, Jasmin Guénette, went to Baie-Comeau and met with people in the industry to better understand the reality on the ground and see how the caribou and forestry workers coexist.
October 27, 2015 | 16 min. 25 sec. | Midi-Pile (CKYK-FM Radio X) Interview (in French) with Jasmin Guénette, Vice President of […]
October 27, 2015 | 9 min. 35 sec. | Boréale 138 (Radio-Canada) Interview (in French) with Jasmin Guénette, Vice President of the […]
October 21, 2015 | 11 min. 45 sec. | Radio-Canada cet après-midi (Radio-Canada) Interview (in French) with Jasmin Guénette, Vice President of […]
Ideas for a more successful university system.
Many activists have been calling for free university tuition, arguing that this would ensure greater access to higher education. While this proposal may seem persuasive, it would entail negative consequences in terms of educational quality. This short documentary shows how France, by relying on freedom of choice and competition, succeeded in establishing a network of top quality institutes of higher learning called Grandes Écoles, and how this system could inspire the province of Quebec.
How to integrate the private and the public sectors in the education system.
How to integrate the private and the public sectors in the education system.
How to integrate the private and the public sectors in the education system.
How to integrate the private and the public sectors in the education system.
The likely costs in terms of jobs and economic activity of conservation measures to protect the boreal caribou.
August 21, 2015 | 9 min. 05 sec. | Normandeau-Duhaime (FM93) Interview (in French) with Jasmin Guénette, Vice President of the MEI, […]
August 20, 2015 | 9 min. 30 sec. | Dutrizac (98,5FM) Interview (in French) with Jasmin Guénette, Vice President of the MEI, […]
Since the addition of the boreal caribou to the threatened species list, the Quebec government has made considerable efforts to protect its habitat by limiting forestry companies’ access to the public forest. No one denies the need to have in place conservation measures for protecting biodiversity, as long as they have concrete positive effects and that the associated costs are not out of proportion with the goals. When it comes to the boreal caribou, though, these two criteria are not necessarily respected.
August 19, 2015 | 9 min. 40 sec. | L'heure de pointe (Radio-Canada) Interview (in French) with Jasmin Guénette, Vice President of […]
July 10, 2015 | 9 min. 30 sec. | Bonjour la Côte (Radio-Canada) Interview (in French) with Jasmin Guénette, Vice President of […]
May 13, 2015 | 14 min. 35 sec. | Normandeau-Duhaime (FM 93) Interview (in French) with Jasmin Guénette, Vice President of the […]
Loto-Québec and the changing market.
January 29, 2015 | 9 min. 45 sec. | Dutrizac, l'après-midi (98,5FM) starting at 4:00 Interview (in French) with Jasmin Guénette, Vice […]
Policing costs have been rising for 25 years in Canada, while the number of criminal incidents per officer has fallen. These growing costs can be explained in part by an increase in the number of police officers, which has certainly contributed to a reduction in the crime rate, but also by the fact that those officers perform a growing number of tasks.
Ride-sharing applications like Uber, Lyft and Sidecar, and their benefits.
Ride-sharing applications like Uber, Lyft and Sidecar are currently revolutionizing the urban transportation industry. By allowing taxi drivers to find clients more rapidly, and other individuals to offer transportation services more easily, these technologies could lead to considerable improvements for customers. Sensible economic policy should avoid hindering their adoption by consumers while compensating those who are negatively affected by obsolete government regulations from the past.
Waiting lists are a persistent problem in the health care systems of Quebec and Canada, contributing to the deterioration of patient health and quality of life. As part of its health care research program, the Vice President of the MEI, Mr. Jasmin Guenette, met with patients and medical professionals in order to better understand the harmful effects of waiting lists.
October 30, 2014 | 13 min. 25 sec. | Québec à midi (FM 93) Interview (in French) with Jasmin Guénette, Vice President […]
The impact of logging on the future of our forests and the survival of the woodland caribou.
August 15, 2014 | 40 min. | Café, boulot, Dodo (Radio-Canada) Interview (in French) with Jasmin Guénette, Vice President of the MEI, […]
August 15, 2014 | 7 min. 50 sec. | Écoutez l'Estrie (Radio-Canada) Interview (in French) with Jasmin Guénette, Vice President of the […]
The impact of logging on the future of our forests and the survival of the woodland caribou.
Environmentalist groups claim that harvesting the forest jeopardizes its future and harms the animal species that live there. As part of our research program on Quebec’s forests, the Vice President of the MEI, Mr. Jasmin Guénette, visited an outfitter to see how wildlife activities coexist with logging activities. This short documentary provides a realistic picture of the Quebec forest narrated by those who make their living from it.
Environmental groups claim that logging is jeopardizing the future of our forests as well as the survival of the species that live in them. Is this an accurate picture of the reality of forestry in Quebec? The aggregate data do not show that our forests are in decline. On the contrary, forest cover has increased slightly between the first forest inventory in 1979 and the most recent one in 2002.
The impact of logging on the future of our forests and the survival of the woodland caribou.
August 13, 2014 | 15 min. 05 sec. | Le Retour de Radio X (CHOI FM) Interview (in French) with Jasmin Guénette, […]
The supply and demand for private health care services in Quebec.
Portrait of the supply and demand for private health care services in Quebec.
Portrait of the supply and demand for private health care services in Québec.
More and more people in the province of Quebec are turning to private clinics for treatment. As part of the MEI’s health care research program, Jasmin Guénette, Vice President of the MEI, met with patients and health care professionals in order to better understand the positive role played by private medical clinics in Quebec. Filmed in the spring of 2013, this short documentary shows that private clinics are responding to a real need and are part of the solution to insure that services are being offered within reasonable time to the population.
December 5, 2013 | 25 min. 45 sec. | Québec à midi (FM93 Québec) Interview (in English) with Jasmin Guénette, Vice President […]
December 5, 2013 | 16 min. 45 sec. | The Tommy Schnurmacher Show (CJAD-AM) Interview with Jasmin Guénette, Vice President of the […]
Quebec is one of the provinces in which private medicine has developed rapidly in recent years. This trend coincides with a large number of Quebecers being unable to find a family doctor and with lengthening wait times both for undergoing treatment after a diagnosis and for being seen by a doctor in a hospital emergency room. How many private clinics are there, and how many doctors have left the public system in Quebec? Why do patients resort to private medicine?
Portrait of the supply and demand for private health care services in Quebec.
Some people and organizations claim that our forests will disappear if we continue cutting down trees the way we do now. In this enlightening documentary, Mr. Jasmin Guénette, Vice President of the MEI, went out into the field to interview those who make their living from the forestry industry to see the true state of our forests and measure the impact of tree cutting on biodiversity.
October 3, 2013 | 12 min. 40 sec. | Le Retour de Radio X (CHOI 98,1) Interview (in French) with Jasmin Guénette, […]
In recent years, we have witnessed the emergence of groups that, in the name of public health, seek greater government supervision over our daily lives. This can take the form of taxes or regulations, as the case may be. When it comes to the phenomenon of obesity, the Research Paper by Dr. David Gratzer, in collaboration with Jasmin Guénette, suggests a positive approach that takes account of the complexity of the problem rather than turning to a tax on specific products, a route that has failed to deliver the hoped-for results, as explained in a previous MEI Economic Note.
A global and non-coercive approach to fighting obesity.
The ineffectiveness of a soda tax.
Roughly one in four Canadian adults is obese ‒ with the percentage of obese Canadians continuing to rise. Every year, obesity results in billions of dollars in preventable health care costs for governments, taxpayers, employers and families. To reverse this trend, many public health advocates, among whom the Ontario Medical Association, have been calling for various types of taxes and regulation on fatty and sugary foods. These include a "soda tax," that is, a tax on soft drinks and other sweetened beverages.
As a part of its research program on the various health care systems around the world, Jasmin Guénette, vice president of the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI), visited Switzerland to see how health care is delivered there. Filmed in the summer of 2012, this report shows how private hospitals make a significant contribution to the efficiency and accessibility of care within the universal health care system.
September 18, 2012 | 16 min. 25 sec. | Isabelle Maréchal (CHMP-FM) Interview (in French) with Jasmin Guénette and Yanick Labrie, respectively […]
January 12, 2012 | 5 min. 15 sec. | Le café show (Radio-Canada) Interview with Jasmin Guénette, Vice President of the MEI, on Quebec-Alberta […]
The evaluation of teachers.
The size of the provincial debt.
Article published exclusively on the Montreal Economic Institute’s website.
Article published exclusively on the Montreal Economic Institute’s website.
March 6, 2011 | 16 min. 25 sec. | Ouvert le samedi (SRC-R) Interview with Jasmin Guénette, Vice President of the Montreal […]
Governments have made considerable efforts in recent years to reduce the tax burden of business. The federal government has promised to reduce the corporate income tax rate even further, toward a rate of 15% in 2012. The Quebec government's last budget highlighted the complete elimination of the capital tax, which will take effect on January 1st, 2011. This is very good news, because corporate income taxes and other taxes paid by businesses have an impact not only or even primarily on shareholders, but also on workers, especially in an open economy.
The export of oil from the tar sands vs. the environmental and commercial interests of Canada.
Publication of a Léger Marketing opinion poll by the MEI.
The official opposition in Ottawa calls for a balanced budget.
Publication of an Economic Note on executive compensation policies.
Publication of an Economic Note on executive compensation policies.
Publication of an Economic Note on executive compensation policies.
Executive compensation has become a controversial issue in recent years. Cases of CEOs leaving office with large sums of money while the companies they led were in financial difficulties are regularly covered by the media and presented as proof that there is a problem. More recently, the economic crisis and government rescue of failing firms with public funds has justified imposing caps to executive pay. An internal managerial decision which traditionally was of relevance only to the administrators and shareholders of a given company is now being debated as a policy of interest to the general public. Is there a problem with the way executive compensation is determined?
Plusieurs intellectuels et militants écologistes soutiennent que la recherche du profit aurait de tout temps incité les industriels à rejeter leurs résidus dans la nature plutôt qu'à chercher à les transformer en produits utiles et à réduire par le fait même la pollution résultant de leurs opérations. Dans ce contexte, seule une réglementation gouvernementale toujours plus contraignante permettrait d'amoindrir l'impact environnemental de l'activité économique.
