Who was Barbara Mitchell?
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Taxes versus the Necessities of Life: The Canadian Consumer Tax Index 2022 edition

Taxes Versus the Necessities of Life: The Canadian Consumer Tax Index, 2022 Edition is a new study that finds the average Canadian family spent 43 per cent of its income on taxes in 2021 compared to 35.7 per cent on basic necessities—more than housing, food and clothing costs combined. Since 1961, the average Canadian family’s total tax bill has increased nominally by 2,440 per cent, dwarfing increases in annual housing costs (1,751 per cent), clothing (643 per cent) and food (790 per cent).

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The Hand of Government in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

The Hand of Government in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a new essay that documents how the IPCC was created by and is controlled by governments of countries that perceive political benefits from international regulatory action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, despite misperceptions, the IPCC has never produced a full and fair assessment of what is known and not known regarding the causes and consequences of global climate change, and its structure and processes ensure that it never will.

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Economic Freedom of the World: 2022 Annual Report

In this year's Economic Freedom of the World report, Canada ranks 14th—once again outside the top 10 most economically-free countries in the world.

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What PISA Tell Us about Education in Canada

What International Tests (PISA) Tell Us about Education in Canada finds that despite Canada scoring comparatively well internationally on the latest PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) tests, Canadian scores in all three subjects—reading, math and science—have significantly declined across the country.

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Comparing Government and Private Sector Job Growth in the COVID-19 Era

Comparing Government and Private Sector Job Growth in the COVID-19 Era is a new study that finds the government sector accounted for nearly 9-in-10 new jobs created since the start of the pandemic, and there has been almost no net job creation in the private sector. In fact, after adjusting for population growth, private sector employment in July 2022 was still below where it was in February 2020 before the pandemic struck.

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Comparing per-Person Spending and Revenue in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, 2009–2019

Comparing per-Person Spending and Revenue in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, 2009–2019 is a new study that finds across the 26 municipalities that constitute the GTHA, per person spending (adjusted for inflation) increased by 9.6 per cent between 2009 and 2019, and Toronto remained the highest spending municipality in 2019. Not surprisingly, there is a connection between high spending municipalities and high tax municipalities, as Toronto, the highest spending municipality was also the 3rd highest taxing municipality (total per person revenues adjusted for inflation) in 2019.

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Friedman and His ESG Critics

ESG: Myths and Realities is a new essay series that highlights the misunderstandings and simplifications of Environmental, Social and Governance investing—ESG investing for short. The second essay, Friedman and His ESG Critics, revisits Nobel laureate Milton Friedman’s iconic 1970 article in the New York Times, which argued that the sole responsibility of business is to increase profits, and that it is misguided to expect managers of businesses to try to achieve broad public policy objectives.

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