Newfoundland’s Curious Attitude to Private Property
Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto argues, most recently in his award-winning book "The Mystery of Capital", that the world's poor often possess considerable capital which could be used to generate wealth, income and employment. Unfortunately, because that wealth is tied up in things like self-built houses to which no formal title exists, it cannot be used as collateral and no bank will lend against it. It is, in de Soto's words, "dead capital", capital whose value has been destroyed by the absence of clear, simple and defensible property rights. In this Commentary, former AIMS Director of Communications, Peter Fenwick, applies these insights to Newfoundland and its perennial problems of economic underdevelopment. He writes: "Although Newfoundland is far from a third world country when it comes to property rights, long held attitudes towards the commons have severely stunted any attempt to use the natural wealth of the province as the grubstake to build prosperity."
Private financing, private delivery. Two tier health care?
Brian Lee Crowley, President of AIMS, gave a talk at the National Healthcare Leadership Conference in Halifax on May 27, 2002. Dr. Crowley was a member of the five-person panel discussing “two-tier health care,” in Canada. Below is a quote from Dr. Crowley’s concluding remarks, if you would like to read the entire analysis that led to these conclusions on our website, please click here. In sum, much of our debate about multiple tiers is ideological, and has little to do with the quality of care delivered within the public system. We cling to a system that outlaws private spending on publicly-insured services, usually on the basis that parallel systems of care rob the public system of resources, while both objective and subjective international rankings show that multiple tiers of access are fully compatible with high quality public systems and high levels of care overall and high levels of patient satisfaction.
U.S. casts itself as fair-weather free trader
In his regular column, AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley discusses the heavy toll the United States’ recent protectionist stance is having on freer trade and the prosperity it brings. Dr. Crowley emphasizes that no one has benefited more from freer trade than the United States, however with the recent signing of the protectionist Farm Bill, the abuse of anti-dumping rules, new tariffs on imported steel, lumber, and textiles, and the failure to grant Trade Promotion Authority to the president, the US is destroying its credibility with the friends of free trade around the world and endangering the foundation of global prosperity. Publication: CHH, May 22, 2002
Manley on a mission
“Free and fair trade will prevail” was the promise Deputy Prime Minister John Manley made to his Halifax audience during the highly successful Economic Leadership Speaker Series event, held on May 15, 2002 and co-sponsored by AIMS. Mr. Manley discussed the need for an aggressive stance by Canada when negotiating settlements for the boiling trade disputes with the United States.
Purdy Crawford named Chairman Emeritus of AIMS
Did more than any other single person to ensure the success of AIMS - Crowley
My Vision for the Canada-US Relationship: A talk by The Hon. John Manley
AIMS Economic Leadership Speaker Series welcomes Canada's Deputy Prime Minister to discuss Canada's US agenda.