Parkland Institute : Conference Blog

Homo economicus, meet Homo sapiens

2012-01-13T20:27:22+00:00

...The vast majority of people are, well... people. Their motivations are much more complex. Recent research has refuted the lopsided and naive picture of humanity represented by Homo economicus. Interestingly, a lot of this research is taking place within the field of economics...

Are we working too much?

2012-01-11T19:43:42+00:00

As a province that works amongst the highest number of hours in a nation that works amongst the highest number of hours in the OECD, Alberta needs to take stock. A new report from the New Economics Foundation lays out a very bold and ambitious vision.

Sprawl means debt

2011-09-23T19:00:30+00:00

Edmonton's figures show that new neighbourhoods in the outskirts are going to cost the City money - a lot of money. More than they bring in - by billions of dollars.

If we had the evidence, we wouldn’t need an investigation!

2011-06-09T17:03:59+00:00

This week allegations of influence peddling by MLAs who were getting priority access for friends and family to health care services were brought to light. Stephen Duckett, formerly of health superboard infamy, mentioned in a speech that this behaviour had been a concern for him when he was chief administrator- enough of a concern that he issued a memo on it.

Oilpatch myths cost Albertans dearly

2011-05-26T16:27:23+00:00

Alberta was blessed with trillions of dollars worth of non-renewable natural resources, but there are a variety of myths clouding the debate over how well the province’s Progressive Conservative governments have been managing that wealth on behalf of citizens.

Liepert is the one who’s out of touch

2011-05-23T18:49:46+00:00

Alberta's Energy Minister Ron Liepert told the US media that Barack Obama is out of touch with Americans for putting environmental concerns before jobs with regards to the Keystone pipeline. Liepert is showing his true colours. He is the one out of touch.

Hard work, little leisure - something to be proud of?

2011-04-20T16:00:49+00:00

...Alberta has a much longer work week and has less paid holidays and vacation entitlements than most other developed economies (two weeks minimum vacation compared to six weeks for the EU). Albertans work 1,880 hours per year, the highest in Canada. Albertans worked 7.5 weeks more than average in the top 15 countries in the OECD...

Alberta Energy Aiming for the Gutter

2011-03-14T16:52:53+00:00

What the Progressive Conservative government is saying is that they are dedicated to getting the worst possible return for Albertans on their non-renewable resources.

Low taxes until oil runs out a bad idea

2011-03-02T17:18:21+00:00

No sales tax until the oil runs out is a very short-sighted approach. Does Minister Snelgrove really believe that Albertans will have money to pay higher taxes when the oil is gone?

Health care has not been protected

2011-02-24T18:50:32+00:00

In today's budget it is expected again that the Tories will claim to be protecting health care spending but exercising fiscal austerity in other pieces of the budget. What the Tory government missed this year and last is that health care spending is not defined by what is spent on acute care.