3-minute read
“Net neutrality” would get in the way of network development
Montreal, June 4, 2009 – Consumers should be free to choose the Internet price and service combinations that best suit their needs rather than have the government legislate in the development of an industry as volatile as the Internet.
3-minute read
Private investment in telecommunications: an economic stimulus
Montreal, May 28, 2009 – Private investment is an essential part of economic recovery and must be encouraged, according to the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI). “Private investment totals more than $270 billion annually, nearly 10 times as high as the public investment announced in the recovery plan in the federal budget,” MEI president and CEO Michel Kelly-Gagnon said.
4-minute read
A manifesto for a more efficient social democratic model
Montreal, May 25, 2009 – An essay titled Manifesto for a Competitive Social Democracy by Marcel Boyer, vice president and chief economist of the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI), says globalization of markets makes it necessary to revitalize social democracy, redefining the roles of governmental and competitive sectors.
1-minute read
Viewpoint on the Quebec government’s debt: potential dangers on the horizon
Montreal, May 6, 2009 – In a Viewpoint published by the Montreal Economic Institute, economist David Descôteaux determines that gross debt as of March 31, 2009, stood at $151.4 billion, or 49.9% of the province’s annual GDP. Quebec’s debt, already above the Canadian average, has started going up again after several years under control. Quebec government spending is on the rise because of growing program costs. Can Quebec’s government finances hold up without unduly raising the debt?
2-minute read
Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 – Michel Kelly-Gagnon receives a Canada-wide award
Montreal, May 1, 2009 – Michel Kelly-Gagnon, president and chief executive of the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI), is one of six people from Quebec honoured in the Canada’s Top 40 Under 40™ awards. The winners were chosen from among 1,100 nominees by an independent selection committee made up of 25 leaders from the business world across Canada. The selection criteria were: vision and leadership, innovation and results, impact, community commitment, and business strategy.
4-minute read
According to a Montreal Economic Institute survey on mixed medical practice, Quebec is depriving itself of the equivalent of 790 medical specialists on weekdays
Montreal, April 22, 2009 – Quebec could reduce waiting lists for medical specialists and maximize their supply of available hours if they were allowed to work both in the public sector and in the private sector, and this would add the equivalent of 790 full-time medical specialists on weekdays.
2-minute read
Viewpoint on the surge in federal government spending by the United States
Montreal, March 20, 2009 – We often hear that the Republican presidency of George W. Bush was characterized by a reduction in the size of government and that this is a classic example of the failure of laissez-faire economics. However, a simple examination of spending by the United States Government during the eight years of the Bush administration (see the Figures and Table on the Institute’s website) shows clearly that this is a huge myth, far removed from reality.
2-minute read
Angus Reid – Montreal Economic Institute poll – Budget: the government must reduce the number of civil servants
Montreal, March 16, 2009 – According to an Angus Reid poll commissioned by the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI), 56% of Quebecers want the government, in a context of economic crisis and lower revenues, to balance its finances by reducing the number of civil servants. Only 7% favour higher fees for public services.
3-minute read
Government intervention caused the economic crisis
Montreal, March 6, 2009 – It was not lack of regulation that led to the economic crisis but rather the harmful effects of government intervention. In an Economic Note titled The Origins of the Economic Crisis, published by the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI), economist Pierre Lemieux explains that “the current turmoil points more to government failure than to market failure.”
5-minute read
Privatizing Hydro-Québec would give $10 billion more a year to Quebecers
Montreal, February 3, 2009 – By privatizing Hydro-Québec, Quebecers would get $10 billion more out of it per year through improved productivity, higher electricity rates and an end to costly subsidy programs for aluminum smelters, according to a Research Paper published by the Montreal Economic Institute. The new private company would be required to pay substantial annual royalties to the government, says the study, prepared by Claude Garcia, member of the board of directors of several corporations and former president of the Canadian operations of Standard Life.