4-minute read
Private for-profit health care is twice as important in France as in the U.S.
Montreal, April 24, 2008 – There are 1,052 hospitals in France’s private for-profit health care sector, accounting for 37% of all health care establishments with full hospital capacity and 21% of beds. This is about double the size of the private for-profit sector in the United States, which comprises 15% of hospitals and 12% of beds. “These private health care providers play an indispensable role in the French system, in a country with social democratic traditions, and they do not pose a threat to the accessibility or universality of care,” say economists Yanick Labrie and Marcel Boyer. “This runs counter to the line taken by defenders of the status quo in Quebec, whose thinking goes against the approach taken in most developed countries.”
3-minute read
How can the NIMBY syndrome be avoided?
Montreal, March 31, 2008 – The most promising strategy for sustainable management of the syndrome known as NIMBY (short for Not In My Back Yard) consists of creating competitive compensation mechanisms that respect the citizens concerned and give them real responsibility.
3-minute read
Tolls would bring in up to $1.6 billion for highway infrastructure
Montreal, March 3, 2008 – Electronic tolls on all of Quebec’s main highways would bring in up to $1.6 billion per year. An Economic Note published by the Montreal Economic Institute examines four scenarios for instituting charges of this type. Economist Mathieu Laberge, the study’s author, explains that “a return to tolls would be helpful in guaranteeing stable financing for maintenance and rebuilding of the highway network as well as minimizing traffic jams and slowing growth of the government debt.”
3-minute read
Foreign aid has not achieved its goals
Montreal, February 13, 2008 – Canada’s aid programs need to be radically changed to respond effectively to new global conditions in an era of failed or failing states in the poorest parts of the world. Unfortunately, overseas development assistance is dying under the weight of its own red tape. This is the essence of the message to be delivered today by John Watson, president of the humanitarian organization CARE Canada from 1987 to 2007, in a speech presented by the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) in collaboration with the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations.
4-minute read
Is there a market in romantic relationships?
Montreal, February 12, 2008 – For Valentine’s Day, the Montreal Economic Institute is presenting an original analysis of the market strategies and mechanisms that operate on online dating sites. In a special Economic Note, economist Mathieu Laberge explains that “dating sites are ‘markets in romantic relationships’ in the sense that they involve both supply and demand.” The behaviour of men and women who are looking for partners can be explained in part by strategies that economics can help make understandable.” The economic analysis here relies on data provided by the popular Quebec dating site RéseauContact.
3-minute read
Should provincial securities commissions be replaced by a single national body?
Montreal, January 17, 2008 – With provincial securities commissions putting the finishing touches on the harmonization and mutual recognition process called the “passport system,” are the Ontario and federal governments correct in opposing this system and seeking to replace it with a single national body?
2-minute read
11 ideas for creating wealth in Quebec
Montreal, January 12, 2008 – The Montreal Economic Institute is presenting Quebecers with 11 ideas for bringing in new wealth-creating solutions and resolving ongoing problems. These proposals can be applied over the next one to five years and are being discussed in the pages of Le Journal de Montréal starting Saturday, January 12. The full texts will be put on the Institute’s website and on Canoë.
2-minute read
According to an investigation by the Montreal Economic Institute: Operating rooms are used at less than 50% of capacity
Montreal, December 14, 2007 – An investigation conducted by the Montreal Economic Institute involving 23 hospitals shows that open operating rooms were in use only 46% of the time during day shifts on weekdays in 2005-2006. Use of operating rooms was even lower on evening shifts, at just 9%, and on weekends, at between 6% and 8%. Part of Quebec’s most modern and most substantial infrastructure is thus being used at far below capacity.
2-minute read
The Montreal Economic Institute awards two Economic Education Prizes
Montreal, December 13, 2007 – The Montreal Economic Institute has awarded two Economic Education Prizes worth $3,000 each to David Descôteaux, a contributor to Commerce magazine, and to Lynn Moore, a business reporter at The Gazette.
3-minute read
Why aren’t consumers benefiting from the higher dollar?
Montreal, December 6, 2007 – Why aren’t Canadian retail prices being adjusted more quickly to put them level with U.S. prices and let consumers benefit from the near parity of the two currencies?