Jock Finlayson
Looming storm demands decisive action from Canadian leaders
For economic prognosticators, it’s been an eventful few weeks. The new year began with a modicum of optimism that the world economy would gain some traction after a sluggish 2019. A similar view was...
Film, construction help power growth as B.C. economy diversifies
In this column, we review industry growth patterns in B.C. during the period since the 2008-09 recession, focusing on industries that have grown most quickly, and on those that have made the biggest...
Jobs weakness points to need for new focus on business climate
With the release of Statistics Canada’s December Labour Force Survey, it is now possible to tabulate annual employment growth rates and other key labour market indicators. Based on annual averages...
2020 will be kind to B.C. housing market, technology sector
Last year the provincial economy downshifted to its slowest expansion since the 2009 recession. Fortunately, 2020 is looking a little brighter thanks to an upswing in non-residential construction....
Non-residential construction set to buttress B.C.’s economy
With mounting concerns about a slowing global economy and a worrying downshift in per capita growth across the advanced economies, the recent release of Statistics Canada’s Provincial and Territorial...
A close look at metrics reveals weakness in Canadian economy
With the federal election on the doorstep, now is a good time to look at where Canada stands in overall prosperity and assess how the pronouncements being made by the party leaders stand up against...
How Canada can up the country’s lacklustre innovation game
Across the world, governments are striving to stimulate innovation to help accelerate economic growth, increase productivity and reduce the environmental impact of industrial and other types of human...
Rising cost of public services outpaces inflation in private sector
Reviewing trends in inflation can provide useful insights into the evolution of the larger economy. Consumer price inflation in B.C., as computed by Statistics Canada, averaged 1.6% annually over...
Technological disruption unlikely to trigger labour doomsday
Today, economists and policy analysts interested in the future of work are confronted with a mix of conflicting evidence and forecasts. On the one hand are projections pointing to large-scale...
Trouble in B.C.’s woods means trouble for the province’s economy
Battered and bleeding, the B.C. lumber industry has seen better days. Today, it is grappling with tough market conditions, a diminished domestic timber supply (along with rising fibre costs), U.S....