AIMS Senior Fellow in Electricity Policy Gordon Weil discusses his latest commentary on the risks and benefits of Muskrat Falls. He cautions about price uncertainty in the electricity market and suggests the creation of an Atlantic power pool to ensure stability.
Today, the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS) publishes Muskrat Falls: Opportunities to Reduce Risk and Enhance Benefits by Dr. Gordon Weil, AIMS Senior Fellow in Electricity Policy. Ed Martin, President of Nalcor, provides a response, creating a public debate on the major new hydro project.
AIMS Senior Fellow in Security and Defence Robert Murray talks about the MH17 flight disaster in Ukraine and discusses how it will affect international relations on 630 CHED.
Newfoundland and Labrador's Telegram cited AIMS Fellow in Common Sense Education Michael Zwaagstra's "Zero Support for No-Zero Policies" in an article about education and school policies.
AIMS Senior Fellow in Electricity Policy Gordon Weil discusses Muskrat Falls and the future of electricity policy in Atlantic Canada on the Todd Veinotte show. More information is coming!
AIMS Senior Fellow in Healthcare Policy David Zitner discusses his latest column on health information in Nova Scotia on the Todd Veinotte show.
That’s too bad. Because previous studies by these same experts — Slack and Kitchen — have found that income taxes are a growing replacement for property taxes in other parts of the world, according to a 2012 paper by Juanita Spencer of the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies. Spencer’s paper was one of three released by AIMS, the then Nova Scotia Chambers of Commerce and the Nova Scotia branch of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives when they jointly argued, in February, 2013, that property tax itself needs to be replaced as a way of funding municipalities.
AIMS Director of Research and Programmes Ben Eisen discusses whether minimum wages reduce poverty and argues that targeted tax credits are a more effective measure of helping low-income individuals and families.
Just as the coming election season will no doubt serve as a springboard for more potentially costly political pledges, a new study from the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies has highlighted how New Brunswick has little fiscal room left to maneuver. The study, prepared by University of New Brunswick economist David Murrell and AIMS policy analyst Shaun Fantauzzo, argues that because of expected declines in federal transfer payments over the near term New Brunswick must quickly adjust its expenditures in order to better reflect an era of diminished revenue. The numbers coming out of the report are certainly a sober read for any politician who may be tempted to promise grandiose pledges in a few short months.According to AIMS,the provincial debt is equivalent to 37.7 per cent of New Brunswick’s GDP. On a per-capita basis, every single New Brunswick resident is burdened by more than $16,000 in provincial government debt.
With a provincial election looming and the New Brunswick legislature about to adjourn, Premier David Alward is in the hot seat over his party’s spending habits. The Atlantic Institute for Market Studies says that while New Brunswick has taken steps to curb spending, it still needs to tackle its massive and ballooning debt. A new study from the Institute suggests the government isn’t working hard enough to reduce the deficit and trim what will soon be more than $12 billion in debt. The study’s co-author, David Murrell, says with Ontario and Quebec now receiving equalization payments from Ontario, reducing debt in a small province like New Brunswick is critical.