Dr. David Robinson

There is an economic number that is giving me nightmares. I stumbled on the number in an article by Bill McKibben in Rolling Stone in July. He got it from a London research organization called Carbon Tracker Initiative.

The Ministry of Finance has produced the real Northern Growth Plan Ontario. It is called the “Ontario Population Projections Update.” This is the document that will direct most planning decisions for the province.

As an economist I don’t make predictions about climate change. I do try to understand what climate change means for the economy, though, because I need to know where the climate is going to make predictions about the Northern economy.

Last month I talked about Christmas presents for politicians. Here is another: Perverse Cities by Pamela Blais, is the perfect gift for your local council member. The book has a great subtitle: Hidden Subsidies, Wonky Policy and Urban Sprawl.

Tip the globe so you are looking down on the North Pole. It is surrounded by seven countries. The Northern Rim Countries (NORCs), are the USA, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Greenland and Canada.

Say Jeff Rubin is right. Say energy prices go through the roof. Will it really be the “end of growth” as Rubin claims? Jeff Rubin was once the chief economist at CIBC World Markets.

What do Dryden and Temiskaming Shores have in common? And what do they have to do with ideas? More importantly, what do they have to do with ideas having sex? And how in the world am I going to make a serious economic column with an introduction like

In March, the premier of Ontario was attacked for defending Ontario’s manufacturing sector.

There is a battle going on for a big chunk of Northern Ontario. On one side is the global economy, desperate for minerals, desperate to minimize costs and leave behind as little as possible.

Premier Brad Wall is proud of Saskatchewan. The province is booming. Migration from other provinces is up 40 per cent —people are streaming in from places like Ontario, Quebec, and Alberta.