"Taxes," according to the famous quote attributed to Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., "are the price we pay for a civilized society."

Fair enough. But Holmes didn't put a price tag on the notion of a civilized society. How much are you willing to pay? Or put another way,...

It's easy to take public infrastructure for granted, but events like the Skagit River Bridge collapse in Washington State are a sharp reminder of how important infrastructure is to our daily lives and the wider economy. After all, roads and bridges allow us to get to and from...

Discussions about taxes are inevitably polarizing. Some Canadians think taxes are too high while others happily pay their share. But given the litany of taxes levied on us by the three levels of government, it is nearly impossible to get a sense of how much we truly pay.

That's why...

Unless analyzing tax policy is part of your day job, you likely avoid thinking about what ultimately can be a polarizing topic. But with the deadline for filing our income tax returns around the corner, we're all forced to at least temporarily think about taxes. The deadline, after all, is...

British Columbia is officially in election mode and the parties are rolling out their campaign promises. When it comes to the tax promises of the two mainstream parties, British Columbians are confronted with a choice, as it were, between higher taxes or even higher taxes. So pick your poison.

To...

It was no joke; on April 1st B.C. officially scrapped the HST and in one fell swoop, restored the old Provincial Sales Tax system.

But moving back to the PST will cause harm to the provincial economy and B.C. families will lose out on the increased prosperity and jobs...

Going by B.C. Finance Minister Mike de Jong's public comments, Tuesday's provincial budget is supposed to present a plan to finally balance the books. But after four consecutive years in the red, British Columbians can't yet breathe a collective sigh of relief. Critically important is how de Jong...

Over the years, Quebec has earned a reputation as being hostile to business due to persistent anti-business policies. As a consequence, Montreal has declined as a hub for major corporate headquarters. With a lower concentration of large corporate headquarters, the city loses out on many economic benefits.

Cities that...

Having won the Ontario Liberal Party's leadership, Premier-designate Kathleen Wynne has a golden opportunity to chart a new course and undo Dalton McGuinty's legacy of fiscal mismanagement. As Wynne contemplates priorities for her leadership she should seriously consider putting Ontario's deficit and debt problem on the top of her to-do...

A policy issue that permeated political debates around the world in 2012 was the idea of raising taxes on high-income earners. In the U.S., it stood front and centre in President Obama's re-election. Several governments in Europe went beyond debate and introduced higher tax rates. Here at home, higher taxes...

When Canada's premiers met recently in Halifax, talks of a possible pipeline to move oil from Alberta to eastern Canada dominated national headlines. There was also mention of talks about trade, immigration, skills training, and infrastructure. One issue that didn't receive nearly as much attention is the management...

At a recent political event, outgoing Premier Dalton McGuinty touted his legacy as leader of Ontario. "Our government hasn't been perfect," he said. "But when it comes to the big things that families count on us to get right -- schools, health care, the environment, and the economy...

Given the debate over the past few years about income inequality and the fact that many people do not consider how the income of individuals change over time, a new study, "Measuring Income Mobility in Canada" recently published by the Fraser Institute, provides fresh evidence on how the...