Author: John Deutsch Institute for the Study of Economic Policy (JDI)

The John Deutsch Institute for the Study of Economic Policy (JDI) is a research institute involved with public policy research in the Economics Department at Queen's University.

Medical marijuana in Canada: Some data and a pricing equation

John Deutsch Institute for the Study of Economic Policy (JDI)

By Allan W. Gregory, Queen’s University
featured image from http://vaping360.com/

Licensed medical cannabis use in Canada has grown considerably in the last two years. From Health Canada’s website, we can measure the size of this market over a period of more than two years (Q1 2015 – Q1 2017). Figure 1 shows the growth in both the dried and oil cannabis.

Figure 1AG1

 

Not only are sales of dry marijuana growing (just under 6000 kgs in Q1 2017) but the inventories are increasing at an even faster rate (currently over 18,000 kgs). Oil cannabis has had a steady increase as well over the period it has been recorded (starting in Q4 2015).Read More »

How we decided on 2% fiscal stimulus during the Great Recession

John Deutsch Institute for the Study of Economic Policy (JDI)

 

StephenSnudden
Stephen Snudden

JDI Student Fellow Stephen Snudden offers his insights into the internationally coordinated effort to combat the Great Recession following the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. At the time he was a Research Assistant at the Bank of Canada and has also served as a Project Officer for the International Monetary Fund.  He is currently a PhD Candidate and in the Department of Economics at Queen’s University. 

 

By Stephen Snudden, Queen’s University

A 2% fiscal stimuli to combat the Great Recession

It was October 7th 2008. Lehman Brothers had just collapsed in mid-September and seemingly taken the global economy with it. Markets were in hysteria. We needed to figure out what to do quickly.Read More »

Hartwick’s Rule continues to influence sustainable development after 40 years

John Deutsch Institute for the Study of Economic Policy (JDI)

This year, the John Deutsch Institute and the Economics Department at Queen’s University are hosting a conference to mark the 40th anniversary of John Hartwick’s famous rule, which was published in the American Economic Review in 1977. The conference, “Investing Resource Rents: A look at resource economics after 40 years of Hartwick’s Rule,” will take place at Queen’s University, October 20 and 21, 2017. Click on the link for more information. This article provides an introduction to the rule. 

By Nora Ottenhof, econ major, Queen’s University

JohnHartwick
Prof. John Hartwick

Arguably one of the greatest accomplishments to come out of the Queen’s University Economics Department has been John M. Hartwick’s 1977 publication, “Intergenerational Equity and Investing Rents from Exhaustible Resources,” known today as the Hartwick Rule. Since its conception nearly forty years ago, the Hartwick Rule has gone on to become a pillar of sustainability economics, forever changing the way we think about the concept of sustainability. The Hartwick Rule has influenced everything from environmental sciences to public policy, and will undoubtedly continue to have a profound impact moving forward.Read More »

How far out of whack are house prices? A ranking of Canadian cities

John Deutsch Institute for the Study of Economic Policy (JDI)

By Allen Head & Huw Lloyd-Ellis, Queen’s University

Building on the research behind a recent article in the Canadian Journal of Economics (Head and Lloyd-Ellis, 2016), we develop an economic model of housing markets and use it to rank Canadian cities based on the percentage difference between predictions and real world prices. This gives us the following excess valuations by year.

Table: Excess Valuations (% deviation from 1984-1998 average)

  2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
1. Vancouver, BC 39 33 32 32 39 48
2. Oshawa, ON 1 11 8 12 23 39
3. St. John’s, NL 52 63 60 57 44 37
4. Toronto, ON 4 12 10 12 18 32
5. St Catharines-Niagara, ON 4 9 6 6 12 25
6. Sherbrooke, QB 24 30 29 19 29 18
7. Hamilton, ON 4 17 13 13 13 16
8. Regina, SK 20 27 22 11 13 15
9. Victoria, BC 19 17 10 7 7 13
10. Calgary, AB 18 15 9 3 2 10
11. Halifax, NS 22 27 20 14 12 9
12. Winnipeg, MB 20 26 18 13 11 9
13. Windsor, ON -3 0 0 0 0 8
14. Gatineau, QB 8 14 11 7 7 6
15. Thunder Bay, ON -6 1 6 9 8 6
16. Montreal, QB 6 15 9 7 5 5
17. Saskatoon, SK 9 13 7 2 8 5
18. Ottawa, ON 10 14 10 8 5 3
19. Quebec, QB 9 16 13 6 4 2
20. Kitchener-Waterloo, ON -2 2 -4 -5 -4 1
21. Saguenay, QB 9 20 15 6 0 -2
22. Edmonton, AB 5 6 -4 -9 -8 -4
23. Greater Sudbury, ON 2 7 5 2 -5 -4
24. Kingston, ON -5 -2 -8 -11 -10 -10
25. Trois-Rivieres, QB 0 2 -1 -3 -8 -10
26. London, ON -12 -10 -12 -13 -12 -12
27. Saint John, NB 0 0 -1 -9 -13 -13
Average 10 14 10 7 7 9

Read More »

What the “Terminator” Tells Us about Blockchain and Privacy

John Deutsch Institute for the Study of Economic Policy (JDI)

By Thorsten Koeppl, Department of Economics

The Blockchain revolution is here. And, in many ways, it is like the Internet was when it started 20 years ago. We did not know how we would be affected, but we all had a feeling that this is going to be big. After watching a movie classic — the “Terminator” — I realized that three questions stand out when gauging the potential of Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology more broadly.

  1. How big are the cost savings?
  2. Is there a need for privacy?
  3. Can we rely on independent, safe and smart communication between IT systems?

Continue reading at the C.D. Howe Institute

Why do Wages Differ Across Countries? Lessons from migrants to Canada in the 1920s

John Deutsch Institute for the Study of Economic Policy (JDI)

By Frank Lewis, Professor Emeritus, Department of Economics, Queen’s University

A chambermaid in Canada has a wage more than twice that of a chambermaid in South Korea; a pharmacist earns four times what a pharmacist in India earns; and a registered nurse receives six times the earnings of a registered nurse in the Philippines. These approximate purchasing-power-parity comparisons typify the large wage gaps between Canada and many other countries; and lead to the question: why doesn’t the chambermaid in South Korea, the pharmacist in India, and the registered nurse in the Philippines move to Canada? Read More »

The NYTs is wrong. More people should walk up escalators

John Deutsch Institute for the Study of Economic Policy (JDI)

By Christopher Cotton, Queen’s University

Yesterday, The New York Times published an article explaining why it is would be more efficient if the social norm involved everyone standing when riding escalators. The current norm in many countries involve those on the right standing, while leaving the left side of the escalators for walkers. The NYTs argues that we’d be better off as a society if both sides were used by standers alone.Read More »

Research: Oil Exporters Should NOT Price Level Target

John Deutsch Institute for the Study of Economic Policy (JDI)

By Stephen Snudden, JDI Student Fellow, Queen’s University

Monetary policy may focus on price level targeting (PLT) or inflation targeting (IT). The distinction between the two frameworks is that under IT, the central bank does not respond to temporary deviation of prices from trend. Bygones are bygones. In contrast, with PLT, past inflation performance matters and past deviations must be undone to restore the price level to the target path.Read More »

Working to better understand the relationship between student effort and parental investments

John Deutsch Institute for the Study of Economic Policy (JDI)

Eric Richert summarizes his essay, “Estimating an Effort Coordination Game Between Parents and Their Children,” which was a co-winner of the 2016 Scarthingmoor Prize for best MA essay in economics. Eric is currently a PhD student in the Queen’s Economics Department. 

By Eric Richert, Queen’s University

Student learning typically requires effort provision by parents, teachers, and students.  However, the early education literature all too often ignores student effort focusing only on the effort of parents and teachers. The effort decision of the child is often excluded from the optimization problem that is solved by the parent, or is a decision made by the parent.   The traditional model strangely ignores the child’s decisions. This assumption may make sense in early childhood but is less believable as students move into high school and beyond, where they are able to make their own decisions.

In my research, I examine the effects of allowing children to make their own decisions regarding the amount of effort they put into their studies.

Read More »

The likely impact of Trudeau’s cash-for-access reforms

John Deutsch Institute for the Study of Economic Policy (JDI)

By Christopher Cotton, Queen’s University

Justin Trudeau’s government is set to introduce changes to the rules governing political fundraising activities. The prime minister has faced heat for the so-called “cash-for-access” fundraisers it has held featuring the prime minister and cabinet ministers. A news report suggested the new legislation will require fundraising events to take place at public locations, rather than private homes or clubs; be announced ahead of time and summarized in reports following the events; and be open to the media. Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould has said any changes will revolve around making the fundraisers more transparent.

So, what is the likely impact of these reforms, what do they accomplish, and what else could be done?

Read the column at IRPP’s Policy Options
photo: shutterstock