Investment is one of the main drivers of productivity growth, which is the key determinant of living standards in the long run. Investment in British Columbia is lagging when compared to that of Canada, particularly in machinery and equipment and ICT investment. Going forward, a poor investment...

In this chapter, Graves and Jenkins explore the attitudes of Canadians to productivity. The distinction between our standard of living and our quality of life is a powerful one for Canadians generally. The economic citizen who emerges from Graves and Jenkins data is relatively aware of the terms...

This report presents new estimates of the Index of Economic Well-being (IEWB) and its four domains (consumption flows, stocks of wealth, economic equality, and economic security) for 14 OECD countries for the 1980-2007 period. It finds that in 2007 Norway had the highest level of economic...

This report has two main objectives. The first is to outline the development of the methodology for the measurement of economic security in the Index of Economic Well-being (IEWB) and to provide updated estimates of the Index of Economic Security over the 1980-2007 period for seven developed...

This report looks at how the economic crisis has unfolded in Canada and what will be the impacts on economic wellbeing. The shortfall is estimated to be approximately $12,000 ($2007) per capita. In other words, given no economic crisis, GDP per capita in Canada would have likely been $1,736...

This report presents new estimates of the Index of Economic Well-being (IEWB) and its four domains (consumption flows, stocks of wealth, economic equality and economic security) for Canada and the provinces for the 1981-2008 period. It finds that the IEWB advanced at a 1.20 per cent average...

This paper, which represents the living standards domain of the new Canadian Index of Wellbeing, provides a comprehensive overview of trends in a number of indicators of living standards over the 1981-2008 period in Canada. Part one examines trends in average and median income and wealth...

In this chapter, Joseph Heath argues that we tend to overestimate the contribution that further productivity growth will make to the welfare of Canadians. Traditionally, productivity growth was thought to contribute to increased leisure time, greater consumer satisfaction, the elimination of...

In this chapter, Jim Stanford agrees that measures were needed to eliminate the deficit. But he argues that Paul Martin's program spending cuts were larger than necessary and caused real pain in many areas of Canadian life. He shows that a strategy in which program spending was frozen in nominal...