The obsession with reducing public spending on prescription drugs, which takes the form of constantly falling price caps, bulk purchasing strategies and reimbursement restrictions, entails numerous unintended consequences, especially for the health of Canadians. These are the findings of a new study from the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI).

Media release :: Government monopoly would reduce the quality of prescription drug coverage

In recent years, we have witnessed the emergence of groups that, in the name of public health, seek greater government supervision over our daily lives. This can take the form of taxes or regulations, as the case may be. When it comes to the phenomenon of obesity, the Research Paper by Dr. David Gratzer, in collaboration with Jasmin Guénette, suggests a positive approach that takes account of the complexity of the problem rather than turning to a tax on specific products, a route that has failed to deliver the hoped-for results, as explained in a previous MEI Economic Note.

Questions about energy are currently in the news on an almost daily basis in the province of Quebec. In addition, the Quebec government intends to adopt a new law on hydrocarbons in the near future, and next year, a new energy policy. In order to be able to discuss these topics seriously, it is useful to have a global picture of Quebec's energy reality. This Economic Note therefore provides a general overview of Quebec's energy consumption and production. It also highlights some of the energy challenges that the province will face in the years to come.

Public policy debates are often coloured by ideological preconceptions. For example, we expect political parties on "the left" to have a tendency to increase public spending when they are in power, and parties on "the right" to have a tendency to reduce it. This perception clearly stems from official statements that emphasize different goals. But what is the reality?

Quebec benefits from unusually low interest rates in financing its debt, making this heavy burden manageable, at least for the time being. But what will happen when borrowing costs rise? Lenka Martinek, chief strategist of Daily Insights at BCA Research estimates that a 2% increase in interest rates would require $1.3 billion in additional spending on debt service in 2018. And this scenario does not take account of a potential recession.

Will we succeed in stopping the decline of small bookstores by limiting the discounts offered to Quebec readers by big stores? What consequences would such a policy entail? We can glean some answers to these questions from both the history of the book and the economic literature. Examples of fixed book price laws elsewhere in the world also allow us to draw precious lessons in order to avoid repeating the errors of the past.

In Quebec history books, the period from 1945 to 1960 has been labelled the "Great Darkness" on account of the province's alleged backwardness compared with its North American neighbours. Quebec society at the time is commonly thought to have been less economically dynamic and prosperous, less culturally and socially enlightened, influenced by an obscurantist Church, dominated by anglophone capital, and governed by corrupt, authoritarian political elites. Many of these claims do not hold up under a closer examination of the statistics of the era, however.

Work organization in the public sector in Quebec has long been hindered by various forms of rigidity. Over the past decade, a few timid reforms have been adopted in order to tackle this lack of flexibility, including the decentralization of certain elements of collective bargaining agreements in the health care system. Most of the working conditions of government employees nonetheless continue to be negotiated centrally for the province as a whole. The principle of seniority still occupies a prominent place in collective bargaining agreements.

Exceptionally, the 2013-2014 budget has been tabled in November. Continuing its tradition, the MEI is therefore publishing a Viewpoint on the debt of the Quebec government that also explains what the Generations Fund is and the impact its abolition could have.

Roughly one in four Canadian adults is obese ‒ with the percentage of obese Canadians continuing to rise. Every year, obesity results in billions of dollars in preventable health care costs for governments, taxpayers, employers and families. To reverse this trend, many public health advocates, among whom the Ontario Medical Association, have been calling for various types of taxes and regulation on fatty and sugary foods. These include a "soda tax," that is, a tax on soft drinks and other sweetened beverages.