Fallacies in gas price sensitivity Dec 27, 2017 Writing in the Financial Post, Terence Corcoran argues (read original article here) that gas prices have had no impact on the demand for gasoline. He presents the proof positive as the following chart This is a classic example of simultaneous equations bias, which typically occurs when one uses time series data to test a … [Read more...] about Fallacies in analysing the impact of gas prices
Commentary
Every individual... neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it... he intends only his own security; and by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention.
The Theory Of Moral Sentiments, Part IV, Chapter I, pp.184-5, para. 10.
Social licence and the nation’s wealth
The controversy over the Energy East pipeline reveals fatal flaws in how we collectively decide on the benefits and costs mega resource projects. The collapse of oil prices Canadians understand that how natural resources support our standard of living. The stakes are too high for decisions on mega projects such as Energy East to be politicized. We need an independent process to … [Read more...] about Social licence and the nation’s wealth
The Long-Form Census: Fast Forward to the Past
Statistics Canada will resume the long-form sub-census in 2016. Most welcome this reversal as a restoration of critical data for policy development and as a harbinger of a new era of evidence- based decision-making. However, change is sweeping across the world of official statistics. The census methodology of monitoring the Canadian population is set for a fundamental … [Read more...] about The Long-Form Census: Fast Forward to the Past
Canada’s Climate Change Cacophany
Politicians are wrapping themselves in green for 2016. The Paris Conference concluded with self-congratulation and widespread resolve to reverse the failures of the Kyoto and Copenhagen agreements to achieve meaningful results. Debate on climate change appears to have concluded and wide acceptance exists on the need to stabilize and then reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) the key … [Read more...] about Canada’s Climate Change Cacophany
