Who was Barbara Mitchell?
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Comparing Median Employment Income in Large Canadian and American Metropolitan Areas

Comparing Median Employment Income in Large Canadian and American Metropolitan Areas compares median employment income—wages, salaries and commissions from paid and self-employment income (net) before taxes and government transfers—in the 141 largest metropolitan areas in Canada and the United States, finding that of the 14 Canadian CMAs included in the study, only two rank in the top half, ultimately lagging far behind their American counterparts.

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Taxes versus the Necessities of Life: The Canadian Consumer Tax Index 2023 Edition is a new study that finds in 2022, the average Canadian family earned an income of $106,430 and paid $48,199 in total taxes--meaning, the average Canadian family spent 45.3 per cent of its income on taxes compared to 35.6 per cent on basic necessities.

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Let the Sun Shine In! Policy Transparency Improves Economic Outcomes

Let The Sun Shine In: Policy Transparency Improves Economic Outcomes is a new study analyzing the increased transparency at central banks and the enhanced effectiveness of monetary policy over the past half-century, and highlights useful lessons for fiscal policymakers regarding government spending and public debt.

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The Mirage of Swedish Socialism

The Mirage of Swedish Socialism: The Economic History of a Welfare State finds that despite common misperceptions, middle-class workers in Sweden—a country often celebrated by social democrats in Canada—pay relatively high taxes for Sweden’s large government.

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Populism, Majority Rule, and Economic Freedom

Populism, Majority Rule, and Economic Freedom, a chapter in the Institute’s upcoming Economic Freedom of the World Report, finds that in the absence of strong institutional checks on government power, such as constitutional rules that protect minority rights and an independent judiciary that will enforce these rules, populism in government can lead to a decline in economic freedom.

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Spending Growth Is the Cause of BC’s Coming Debt Boom

Spending Growth is the Cause of BC’s Coming Debt Boom is a new study that finds from 2000-2017 per person program spending in BC increased by 8.4 per cent (adjusted for inflation), but more recently, and in a much shorter time period from 2017 to 2022—even excluding COVID spending—per person spending increased by 25.9 per cent.

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New Brunswick’s Divergent Finances: A Possible Opportunity for Tax Reduction

New Brunswick’s Divergent Finances: A Possible Opportunity for Tax Reduction finds that as a result of the New Brunswick government’s recent spending restraint, the province is now positioned to introduce meaningful tax relief, which if current government revenue and spending growth continues, could reach over $3,600 per taxpayer by 2032/33 without jeopardizing the province’s balanced budget.

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