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.

The U.S. fiscal problem

Are pipelines dangerous?

The concept of fixed book price agreement.

Food inflation and our purchasing power.

In May 2012, after a two-year investigation, the president of the European Competition Commission (ECC), Mr. Joaquim Almunia, told Google to modify the operation of its search engine, under penalty of law. According to the ECC, Google is abusing its position in the Internet search engine and online advertising markets. Elsewhere in the world, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the United States is also studying the possibility of suing Google for abusing its market position. Other countries like South Korea, Australia and India are investigating on the same grounds.

Nearly two decades after having decided that it was not necessary to regulate the wireless telephone sector, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) decided this past April to revisit its decision and hold public consultations on the matter. It should soon announce whether or not it believes that formal regulation is required to ensure that the sector remains competitive. Wireless telephony now includes data transmission and has become a competitive factor for businesses in an environment in which communications technologies are developing rapidly.

The Canadian wireless industry in comparison to other developed countries.

In order to promote a change of agricultural policy, we briefly review the cases of countries that have abolished or are in the process of abolishing quota systems: the buyback and abandonment of milk quotas in Australia, of tobacco and peanut quotas in the United States, the elimination of milk quotas in Switzerland and the beginnings of a process of abandonment of milk quotas in Europe. Canada could follow these examples by abandoning mandatory membership in marketing boards and by imposing a temporary tax to buy back farming quotas.

Does the Canadian book industry still need to be subsidized?