The Canadian Century in the Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal – the most influential newspaper in the US and an opinion-leader worldwide - yesterday highlighted Canadian Century in a news story about how Canada is emerging from the shadow. Phred Dvorak wrote:
Some Canadians are even suggesting what would have been unthinkable just 15 years ago, when an editorial in The Wall Street Journal dubbed Canada an “honorary member of the Third World”; in many ways, Canada now stands to outshine its neighbor to the south.
“We don’t have to accept being second fiddle,” says Brian Lee Crowley, managing director at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, an Ottawa policy think tank, and lead author of “The Canadian Century—Moving Out of America’s Shadow,” published in May. “We have the potential of enjoying a very long run of higher levels of economic dynamism, prosperity, success than the United States.”
The Canadian Century in Washington
I was in the US capital last week for a series of meetings and public appearances. One stop was at the prestigious Canadian Studies Program at the School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University. I was there with my co-author, Jason Clemens, to address students, faculty and Canada-watchers in the US capital on the content of MLI’s first book.
You can watch a video provided by SAIS here, with the lecture commencing at approximately the 3:30 minute mark.
I also was invited to join Professor Earl Fry to speak at the prestigious Woodrow Wilson Center, where I brought the Canadian Century message of fiscal sanity to American audiences (you can view a video of the event here). And partly as a result of sitting down with me during my visit, the Cato Institute’s Chris Edwards wrote in Cutting Government the Canadian Way:
Canadian spending did grow during the past decade, but much less than U.S. government spending. Between 2000 and 2009, total Canadian federal spending increased 47 percent, but total U.S. federal spending rose 97 percent.
From a libertarian point of view, Canada’s spending cuts were modest. But the Canadian experience illustrates that a lot of progress can made if even modest cuts are made and then spending is constrained to grow at a slower rate than the overall economy.
For more on the Canadian fiscal reforms, see The Canadian Century by Brian Lee Crowley, Jason Clemens, and Niels Veldhuis.
On the Rise or in Decline? Evaluating Canadian and U.S. Power in the 21st Century
On October 6 I will be discussing Canadian and U.S. power in the 21st century, along with Earl Fry of Brigham Young University, at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC. Click here to RSVP.
Please join the Canada Institute for a discussion on what the future holds for Canada and the United States with renowned opinion leaders Early Fry of Brigham Young University and Brian Lee Crowley of the MacDonald-Laurier Institute. Fry will present the themes of his new book, Lament for America: Decline of the Superpower, Plan for Renewal, which argues that the United States’ mounting current account and government deficits, as well as an increasingly erratic currency, are key reasons why the world’s lone superpower is in decline. In contrast, Crowley, one of the authors of the recently published book, The Canadian Century: Moving Out of America’s Shadow, will argue that sound fiscal policy and economic reforms beginning in the 1980s have put Canada on a path to unprecedented prosperity that will enable the country to excel in the 21st century.
Canadian Century in the Wall Street Journal
Jason Clemens, MLI Fellow and one of my co-authors along with Niels Veldhuis of MLI’s best-selling The Canadian Century, has an article in the Wall Street Journal earlier this week. In the piece titled Canada, Land of Smaller Government, Clemens makes the case for Canadian fiscal actions as a guide for Americans. From the outset, he eloquently echoes the arguments put forth in Canadian Century.
When Americans look to Canada, they generally think of an ally, though one dominated by socialist economic policies. But the Canada of the 1970s and early 1980s—the era of left-wing Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau—no longer exists. America’s northern neighbor has transformed itself economically over the last 20 years.
The Canadian reforms began in 1988 with a U.S. free trade pact that would lead to the North American Free Trade Agreement. But change really began to take off in 1993. A socialist-leaning government in Saskatchewan started by reducing spending and moving towards a balanced budget. This was followed by historic reforms by the Conservatives in Alberta, who relied on spending reductions to balance their budget quickly.
In 1995, the federal government, led by the Liberal Party, passed the most important budget in three generations. Federal spending was reduced almost 10% over two years and federal employment was slashed 14%. By 1998, the federal government was in surplus and reducing the nearly $650 billion national debt. Provincial governments similarly focused on eliminating deficits by paring spending and reducing debt, and then they started to offer tax relief.
Read the complete article here…
Canadian Century “enormously prescient”
In a review of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute’s political hit The Canadian Century on his blog Filibuster… J.J. McCullough writes:
“As a book on the fiscal state of the continent, and the challenges that await in the new decade, it may prove enormously prescient.”
You can also read the review at the Western Standard and check out other reviews here.
Montreal launch of The Canadian Century
I was in Montreal on June 9 to launch The Canadian Century: Moving Out of America’s Shadow. An event sponsored by Lapointe Rosenstein Marchand Melançon. Below are a few pictures from that event.
The Canadian Century on the Dave Rutherford show
I was on the Dave Rutherford show earlier today to discuss The Canadian Century. You can hear the interview here (click on June 16, 11:00 AM).
The Canadian Century on the bestsellers list
The Canadian Century is number 16 on this week’s BookNet bestsellers list.
The Canadian Century on the G-20 “essential reading list”
The Canadian Century has been chosen by Indigo buyers for inclusion on a list of G-20 essential reading list. That puts MLI’s first book on a special table of books in every one of their stores, books intended to help their customers understand better the G-20, what it means, and the great issues facing the world economy and Canada’s place in it.
The Canadian Century on the Tommy Schnurmacher Show
I was on the Tommy Schnurmacher Show on CJAD in Montreal yesterday to discuss The Canadian Century. Click here to listen.
