Montreal, Wednesday, March 6, 2013 – Quebec’s direct debt amounts to 47% of GDP, the highest ratio among all Canadian provinces. Unusually low interest rates make this heavy burden sustainable, at least for the time being. But what will happen when borrowing costs rise? Lenka Martinek, chief strategist of Daily Insights at BCA Research, estimates that a 2% rise in interest rates would require $1.3 billion in additional spending on debt service in 2018. And this scenario does not take account of a potential recession.

Montréal, le vendredi 1er mars 2013 – À la lecture de l’article de Kathleen Lévesque paru dans La Presse du 28 février et intitulé « Les Québécois ne sont pas les plus taxés », les contribuables ont voulu croire, ne serait-ce que l’espace d’un instant, qu’ils n’étaient pas le

Montreal, Thursday February 7, 2013 – Far from contributing to the vitality of Quebec culture, the establishment of a fixed book price, as proposed by the Nos livres à juste prix (Our books at a fair price) lobby group, would ultimately reduce total book sales by 14%. Quebec titles would be even harder hit, with a 17% drop in sales. This is the first time these figures have been available for the province of Quebec, and the details of the calculations can be found in an MEI Note published today.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012 – Quebecers still pay the highest taxes in North America, but do they at least get their money’s worth?

“There is plenty of room for improvement in making the government more efficient, especially by reforming work organization,” answers Yanick Labrie, author of a new publication from the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI). He points out that Sweden’s public sector employment scheme has undergone something of a revolution.

Montreal, December 11, 2012 — The Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) has awarded its two annual economic education prizes, each including a $3,000 grant, to Tasha Kheiriddin, commentator at the National Post and on CTV, and to Éric Duhaime, who appeared in several venues like the Journal de Québec, Isabelle le matin, Dumont and Radio X.

Le lundi 10 décembre 2012 – Malgré un sondage Nanos de 2011 révélant que 95 % des Québécois sont en faveur de la divulgation des finances syndicales, une proportion plus forte que dans le reste du Canada, le projet de loi 377 déposé en ce sens par le député fédéral Russ Hiebert rencontre l’opposition des organisations syndicales très réticentes à cet

November 20, 2012 – Quebec’s public sector debt now stands at 251.5 billion dollars. Following the tabling of the provincial budget, the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) updated its real-time Quebec Debt Clock. From now to March 31, 2014, the Clock will advance by 16.7 billion dollars, the equivalent of 22.9 million dollars a day or $265 a second.

Thursday November 15, 2012 – For several years, the Weight Coalition has requested the introduction of a soda tax to fight obesity. Along the same lines, the Ontario Medical Association recently called for a tax on foods deemed to be too high in sugar or fat. Despite the good intentions behind these proposals, a new publication from the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) suggests that apart from making the government fatter, this type of action will not really have any impact on weight.

Montreal, Tuesday, October 16, 2012 – Canadians’ opinions of fossil fuels and of Alberta’s oil sands, Canada’s main source of oil, are much more favourable than one might have supposed at first glance. That’s what is shown by a Léger Marketing poll commissioned by the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) and released today.

Thursday, October 11, 2012 – According to a Léger Marketing poll commissioned by the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI), Canadians overwhelmingly support the development of the oil sands, as long as continued efforts are made to limit the associated environmental impact. Pierre Desrochers and Hiroko Shimizu, associate researchers at the MEI, wanted to find out what measures are actually taken by this industry to protect the environment.