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"From the editor's desktop" by William Watson Sorry, the summary of this article is not available. "Checking the Brain Drain: Evidence and implications" by John F. Helliwell Despite concern in the press and elsewhere about a brain drain to the United States, the number of American residents born in Canada continues its century-long decline, while the continuing emigration of highly-skilled Canadians is a fraction of what it was in earlier decades. If anything, the sizeable Canada-US unemployment rate gap and the greater wage premium received by highly-skilled workers in the US should have caused more emigration than was seen in the 1990s. A study of University of British Columbia graduates also shows no increased tendency for them to migrate southward. The overwhelming majority stay in Canada, most of them in BC. Research into Canada-US migration should continue, but there is no reason for alarm or for an exaggerated policy response. "The Brain Drain is real and it costs us" by Don DeVoretz Lots of Canadians are always ready to move to the United States. When US immigration policy lets them, they go. Since 1989, the US border has been much more open to skilled Canadians, and they have started to move in substantial numbers. In economic terms they generally outperform both US natives and predecessor Canadian migrants. The flow of bodies is offset by a more than equal inflow of skilled migrants from the rest of the world, but such immigrants are not as productive as those who have left, and their resettlement here is costly. We urgently need policy that will both keep people from going to the US and persuade those who have already gone to come back. "The evidence vs. the tax-cutters" by Herb Emery The media are convinced there is a brain drain. The data suggest there isn't. Facts about how many Canadians are moving south aren't likely to resolve this debate, however. The brain drain is too useful a device for pushing a tax-cutting agenda. Expect the focus to turn from simple numbers to a discussion of the strategic importance of the kinds of people who are leaving, and of how bad a future brain drain could be if we don't cut taxes now and begin paying our scientists and academics more. "The drain will be a torrent if we don't staunch it now" by David Stewart-Patterson The data may not show a big brain drain - yet. But substantial numbers of Canada's CEOs say it's already affecting the way they do business, and many others fear it will become even more of a hindrance in the next decade. Statistics Canada tax data show that people in the top tax brackets, who pay most of the country's income taxes, are much more likely to move to the US than people in lower tax brackets. That's a problem policy-makers need to address, and soon. "Are we losing our minds?" by Mahmood Iqbal The brain drain is growing. In key professions, the number of emigrants, which was no more than three per cent in the 1980s, is now as high as 11 per cent. Nor can these emigration numbers simply be dismised as measurement error: The data on temporary moves do not, as is sometimes suggested, contain multiple entries per migrant. Simple econometric work indicates that the flow out of Canada is related to the higher tax rate here, the difference in professional incomes and the gap in unemployment rates between the two countries. "If we're number one, why would anyone leave?" by William Watson For the last six years running, the United Nations' Human Development Index has ranked Canada number one in the world. A look at how the index is calculated shows that this is mainly because the influence of income is heavily discounted. In recognition of this problem, the index has been changed, but there is still substantial discounting. If income were entirely undiscounted, we would be fifth on the index and the United States, currently third overall, would be first. In view of that ranking, it is a little easier to see how people might be tempted to emigrate from "the best country in the world to live in." "Profundity rampant: Secession and the Court, II" by Dan Usher The Supreme Court's assertion of a duty to negotiate in the event of a Quebec referendum vote for secession is simply that, assertion. The four foundational principles it supposedly discovers in the unwritten part of the constitution are not obviously there to be found, nor are they necessarily the constitution's most important foundational principles. Moreover, the Court does not make clear how the duty to negotiate follows from the four principles. Both in asserting the duty and in failing to describe its implications in any detail, the Court has done Canadians a severe disservice. "How the world dodged another Great Depression" by Barry Eichengreen Why didn't last year's financial crisis turn into 1929 all over again? The world is more vulnerable today: Leverage is probably up; financial deregulation has increased risk; and economic integration means countries are more vulnerable to contagion. But policy-makers learned from the 1930s. Regulation is better; deposit insurance prevented panics; central banks responded with liquidity; floating exchange rates helped; protectionism was held in check; selective bailouts worked; the IMF did its job; and the US economy held strong through the crisis. We still need new global financial architecture, however. "Will stricter penalties deter drunk driving?" by Anindya Sen The federal government is considering tougher penalties for drunk driving. It's true that over the period 1976-92 stiffer penalties were enacted and traffic fatalities involving legally intoxicated drivers fell. But multivariate regression shows that other factors may have had a greater influence on the decline. The most important were the introduction of compulsory seat belt legislation in most provinces, as well as a decline in the number of young males in the population. In fact, with the exception of fines for driving without a licence, most penalties had no statistically significant effect on fatalities. Policy-makers may therefore wish to focus on general safety measures. "End campaign spending limits. Let the people judge." by Lorne Gunter After two rejections by the courts, we are about to see round three of Ottawa's attempt to limit campaign spending in federdal elections. Too bad. Such limits serve mainly to make it harder to unseat incumbents. And even if they did increase the quality of debate - and there's no evidence that they do - government has no business deciding when the quality of electoral debate is satisfactory. Electors know when someone is trying to buy their vote. If we must have limits on spending, at least make third-party ceilings the same as for politicians: $60,000 per riding and $10 million nationally. "Our judges are activist only when it suits them" by Rory Leishman The recent decisions of the BC courts in the case of a man found in possession of child pornography are yet another instance of the courts flouting the wishes of Parliament. At the time, the debates on the Charter indicated judicial activism was supposed to be restrained and cautious. It has not been. The BC case is especially unfortunate, since the judge who upheld it has herself written strong decisions in favour of parliamentary prerogative. "Duplicity in the North: A reply to Graham White" by Albert Howard and Frances Widdowson Sorry, the summary of this article is not available. "Alberta's funding formula hurts urban schools" by Dean Neu and Alison Taylor The latest Alberta budget announced a $600 million "reinvestment" in education. That will help the province's schools, but it does nothing to redress the redistribution resulting from the change in the education funding formula in 1995. The new formula recognized special costs associated with rural education and has shifted spending away from urban school boards. But urban schools have their own financial challenges. They have more special needs students, and their teachers often are better qualified, and therefore higher-paid. What's needed is a formula that meets everyone's concerns. Book review: Harold Jansen reviews Henry Milner, ed., Making Every Vote Count: Reassessing Canada's Electoral System Sorry, the summary of this article is not available. "Tax the dead!" by Kristian Gravenor Sorry, the summary of this article is not available. |
