Grandinite

Ed Stelmach believes the surging loonie will hurt the government’s war on Alberta’s provincial deficit.
Edmonton Journal: Surging loonie hurts Alberta deficit fight: As Canadian dollar climbs in value, provincial revenues drop, premier says
The rising loonie is bad news for Alberta’s efforts to reduce a projected $4.7-billion deficit, Premier Ed Stelmach said Wednesday.
Every one-cent annualized [...]

I was just checking the latest howler from the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary, written by Ken Boessenkool, also known as Stephen Harper’s pointman for GSK and Taser International. The “paper” is a prime example of policy thinktanks committing serious errors of omission in a quasi-academic paper meant to sway public [...]

Global warming unproven, Wildrose leader says
Climate Change is real. In the event of a discrepancy between empiricism and prior assumptions, data must conform to dogma, especially if one wishes to remain employed in the groupthink academic structures of this world. All Warmth Deniers are heretics. They have commited the Mortal Sin and ought to be [...]

I saw this in the Edmonton Journal today: Alberta productivity lagging: High costs in energy sector hurt growth, experts say
Alberta’s survival as major global player depends on significant productivity improvements, especially in the energy sector, the Edmonton Economic Development Corp. annual economic outlook luncheon heard Tuesday.
The province has gone from a low-cost jurisdiction to the [...]

The following blog post is a respnse to Antonia Zerbisias’ recent column in the Toronto Star, H1N1 Causes Outbreak of Conspiracy Claptrap. I don’t blame anyone for getting the vaccine, because it’s probably the best defense against H1N1. Also, it would absolutely suck to travel somewhere on vacation, get H1N1, and spend days in [...]

Vaccine makers are exempt from liability.
Vitamin D Might Protect Against H1N1 Flu
Well, Well, Well: H1N1 Vaccine: Trust and risk

As an economist, one of my biggest pet peeves in life is the misuse and abuse of numbers in politics, as portrayed through the media circus. Here is the perfect example of what I call “Unanchored numbers in media”:
Calgary Herald: Stelmach slams study on emission target’s economic impact on Alberta
CALGARY – Alberta and federal [...]

Using StatsCan data for 2006 on Population, Blood Pressure and Median Family Income, I have constructed the following graph (Click to Enlarge):

The BP Index is constructed as follows:
(Persons in province with High Blood Pressure/Persons in Province)/(Persons in Canada with High Blood Pressure/Persons in Canada)
Similarly, the Med. Income Index is constructed as follows:
(Median Income, Province)/(Median [...]

There has been much ballyhooing over Calgary’s snow removal budget. Some say we can afford the $14 million dollars, others say it’s an extravagance.
It would be a massive undertaking to study it, but I’m certain Calgary loses millions of dollars worth of productivity due to the poor quality of snow removal. Some days, a 15 [...]

The Atlantic has succeeded where the mainstream media has failed when it comes to H1N1 coverage. Turns out there are some top researchers with deeply skeptical views of the seasonal flu vaccine. It’s not just a bunch of anonymous internet whackos hammering out conspiracy theories on blogs.
The Atlantic: Does the Vaccine Matter?
The skeptical [...]

Paul Boothe in 2006:
“Alberta could be running a deficit within three years if the Klein government doesn’t move sharply to rein in its out-of-control spending, a top economist warns.”
And, again in 2006:
Even if energy prices remain at their current record level, continuing to spend at our current rate will put us back in [...]

I’m low on prose, but high on content today. I’ll simply arrange some ideas for you:
To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to [...]

I’m one of those people who believes animals can sense things we humans cannot. Animals can seemingly detect tremors and tsunamis, and I’m starting to think they are sensing a potential earthquake in Alberta politics.

McDougall Centre, GOA
Last week, specifically September 22nd, I was walking to work in downtown Calgary, right past McDougall Centre, [...]

All last weekend, I waited patiently for the official Bilderberg 2009 attendees list to appear on the internet, and the best one originated on a Greek blog which was then given some polish by Alex Jones, et. al. . I consider it my duty to eagerly await this list, to see which Canadians appear on [...]

I’m going to rant about my pet peeve: unanchored numbers. You know, when someone says something like: “X number of people dead from Swine Flu”. That tells me nothing, because I always ask “Compared to what?”. I need to know the actual mortality rate of swine flu in order to gauge how deadly it is. [...]

To paraphrase the Boy Scout’s motto, you’ve got to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. I remember reading that in a Boy Scout manual. I scavenged from the Fort McMurray dump back when I was younger, and it’s stuck with me ever since.
We’re living in doomish times, in an age where [...]

Birds and oil sands don’t mix, if recent headlines are any indicator, but some research coming out of China suggests otherwise. PlanetSave.com is carrying a story about some researchers in China who have discovered that chicken droppings raise the ph level of soil high enough to activate microbes that actually break down oil trapped in [...]

Isn’t it odd how a tent city full of homeless people exists in an area of the United States where houses sit empty due to foreclosure?
Why do we live in a world where these two realities exist in parallel?

Homelessness is on the rise as homes sit empty. What is wrong with this picture?
It is happening [...]

This is actually a pretty damn good song.
But what the heck is an Eminence Front?
The outward appearance of high status.
Basically, a Calgarian.

The Calgary Herald’s got something for you to read, if you’re interested in issues of “corporate reputational capital” a.k.a. “trust”.

Oilsands may be at tipping point on issue of public trust
If you’re up for some in-depth analysis, I highly suggest Fukuyama’s book, Trust.
I haven’t flayed this thought out just yet, but it seems to me [...]