Who was Barbara Mitchell?
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Can Alberta Restore Its Tax Advantage?

Can Alberta Restore Its Tax Advantage? finds that for Alberta to become one of the lowest taxed jurisdictions in North America again, the province would require a six per cent single-rate personal income tax. Over the past five years, Alberta went from having the lowest top combined (federal/provincial) personal income tax rate in North America to one of the highest, due to tax increases at the provincial and federal levels and tax cuts in the United States.

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CEO to Worker Pay: Global Competition for Top Talent

CEO to Worker Pay: Global Competition for Top Talent finds that top business leaders—like top athletes, musicians and actors—receive high levels of compensation because they are in high demand around the world and not easily replaced. For example, Sean Combs (a.k.a. Diddy) was paid $130 million USD in 2017, the last year of comparable data. Likewise, Soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo earned $93 million USD, and actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson made $65 million USD. By comparison, the average compensation for the top 100 CEOs in Canada was $9.6 million CDN.

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Generosity in Canada and the United States: The 2018 Generosity Index

Generosity in Canada and the United States: The 2018 Generosity Index finds that the amount of money Canadians donate to registered charities—as a share of their income—has plummeted 32.2 per cent since 2006, and Canadians remain far less generous than Americans. According to the index, Utah remains the most generous of all 64 jurisdictions in North America, and Manitoba is again the most generous Canadian province or territory, but still only ranks 42nd out of 64. Of the bottom-15 least generous jurisdictions in North America, 12 are Canadian.

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Reforming Capital Gains Taxes in Alberta

Reforming Capital Gains Taxes in Alberta finds that Alberta should eliminate the provincial portion of the capital gains tax—lowering it from 24 to 16.5 per cent—to become more competitive with key energy-producing jurisdictions in the United States. Currently nine U.S. states do not impose a state-level capital gains tax, including several key energy-producing states—Texas, Wyoming and Alaska—which directly compete with Alberta for investment, entrepreneurs and even highly-skilled workers.

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The Unintended Consequences of National Pharmacare Programs: The Experiences of Australia, New Zealand, and the UK

The Unintended Consequences of National Pharmacare Programs in Australia, New Zealand and the UK finds that publicly-funded pharmacare schemes—similar to what some policymakers in Canada are considering—in other developed countries have resulted in reduced access to new drugs for patients, drug shortages, higher taxes and less pharmaceutical innovation.

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The Human Freedom Index 2018

The Human Freedom Index, 2018 finds that New Zealand is the freest country in the world, followed by Switzerland and Hong Kong. Canada ranks 5th globally, and the United States ranks 17th in this year’s report. The index ranks 162 countries and jurisdictions based on 79 indicators of personal, civil and economic freedoms and is a joint project with the Cato Institute in the U.S. and Germany’s Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom.

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Risk and Reward in Public Sector Pension Plans: A Taxpayer’s Perspective

Risk and Reward in Public Sector Pension Plans: a Taxpayer’s Perspective finds that government employees don’t pay the full cost of their defined-benefit pensions, and in fact, taxpayers provide a $22 billion annual subsidy to public sector pensions by assuming undisclosed investment risks for which they are not compensated.

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