Stephen Gordon

Stephen Gordon is an economics professor at l'Université Laval in Quebec City. He started the blog Worthwhile Canadian Initiative in 2005 and has been blogging about economics ever since.

The Liberals are spending far more than they said they would

Economist Stephen Gordon unpacks the federal government’s finances to explain why the deficit is so much bigger than Trudeau promised

For Canada’s economy it seems the worst of the oil crash is over

We can’t read too much into a single quarter, but the period of weak growth and declining incomes appears to be over

How the Liberals could balance the budget—if they have the will

With the budget, the Liberals have taken a page out of the Conservative plan for program expenditures. But there are many reasons to think it won’t work.

Will Finance really stick to its deficit prediction for 2015?

After 11 months of surpluses, Ottawa still says 2015 will end with an annual deficit. March will have to be a horrible month.

How to evaluate the Liberals’ first budget

It’s both easier and harder than it seems, writes economist Stephen Gordon

Why do the Liberals insist on projecting a deficit for this year?

Economist Stephen Gordon has studied Ottawa’s finances and sees a surplus for 2015-16. Are the Liberals playing ‘silly games’ with their deficit talk?

Why has federal tax revenue exceeded projections?

While it makes sense that weakened economic growth would lower government revenues, it’s getting harder to make that story fit the data

Stephen Gordon: Liberals’ deficit claim doesn’t add up

It will be easier for the Liberals to run on their plan of deficits if they can credibly claim they inherited one from the Conservatives. They can’t.

Q&A with Jean-Yves Duclos: Economist and new cabinet minister

Q&A: Jean-Yves Duclos, former head of the economics department at Laval University and now minister of families, children and social development

How to understand that controversial study of Quebec daycare

Stephen Gordon explains what the paper examining the Quebec daycare program reveals, and the ensuing controversy

Why the NDP’s exact plan for the corporate tax rate matters

If Mulcair keeps his promises on the budget and the corporate tax rate, it’s unclear how an NDP government could avoid spending cuts

What you need to know ahead of the interest rate announcement

Are we in a recession? Will the Bank of Canada cut the interest rate again? Should it?