As British Columbia’s provincial government continues to struggle with both deficits and finding ways to constrain spending, there is heightened interest in how wages and non-wage benefits (compensation) in the public sector compare with those in the private sector. While a lack of non-wage benefits data mean that there is insufficient information to make a definitive statement about total compensation between the private and public sectors, the data that are available indicate that the public sector enjoys a clear wage premium.

Canada’s fortunes and prosperity are intimately affected by the electoral decisions of our American neighbours. The Fraser Institute asked 10 noted Canadian and American scholars to write about the implications of the 2012 US presidential election on Canada in a number of key policy areas. Each essayist was asked to answer, to varying degrees, three questions relating to the results of the US election: (1) What are your expectations for policy in the near future (two to four years)? (2) What are the problems or opportunities with such policies? (3) And what are the implications of such policies for Canada?

This project, sponsored by Canada’s Fraser Institute, Germany’s Liberales Institut, and the United States’ Cato Institute, focuses on creating the first comprehensive and conceptually consistent index of freedom, including economic freedom, and is based on the “negative” definition of freedom—in other words, the absence of barriers or coercion that prevent individuals from acting as they might wish.