2. Less reliance on taxes
Regulatory capture
undermining democracy
Dutch disease
Inequality and a system skewed in the
interest of corporations and the corporate
elite.
3. From 1989 to 2008, Alberta’s spending as a portion
of GDP shrank 40 percent—and is easily lowest
among provinces.
Alberta’s economy has grown 76 percent more than
population and inflation in the past 20 years.
Corporate profits more than doubled their
share of Alberta’s economy from 1989 to
2008, rising from 9.6 percent to 22.6 percent.
8. Table 1: Changes in selected fiscal indicators in Alberta, 1989-1993 vs. 2004-2008
1989-1993 2004-2008
Five Year Average Five Year Average Change
(per capita, 02 $) (per capita, 02 $) (per capita, 02 $) Change (%)
Health Care 2,061 2,563 502 24.35%
K-12 Education 1,248 1,276 28 2.28%
Post Secondary 819 1,014 195 23.87%
Social Services 1,546 1,032 -514 -33.26%
Personal Income 28,214 37,041 8,828 31.29%
Corporate profits 2,923 13,290 10,367 354.68%
17. Median Alberta Income Median CEO Income
Top 5 Median CEO Income
$11,084,12
3.00
$2,473,439.
00
$68,100.00
Median Alberta Incomes
18.
19. Year %
2008 40.6
2004 44.7
2001 52.8
1997 52.8
1993 60.2
In the last election Alberta had the lowest turnout for a Canadian
provincial election in the last 50 years.
20. 2
Albertans Believe that Government Should be Doing More
Believe gov’t should be doing more or at least the same to
protect free, high quality healthcare.
Believe gov’t should be doing more or at least the same to
reduce GHGs.
21. 21
By a 2:1 margin, Albertans believe in funding social
programs over eliminating the deficit
Q Which statement is closest to your view?
The provincial government should increase finding for social programs such as health and education even
if it means running a deficit
-or-
The provincial government should eliminate the deficit, even if it means reducing funding for social
programs such as health and education
22. 22
Q Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
Note: ‘Don’t know/Refused’ not shown
Editor's Notes
What I will talk about today.
growth losers, such as Nigeria, Zambia, Sierra Leone, Angola, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, are all resource-rich, while the Asian tigers: Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, are all resource-poor.However Australia, Canada and Norway are opposite experiences. Recent studies look at institutional strength to break the resource curse. Studies of growth impacts of resource wealth – institutions - especially low levels of corruption, law and democracy.
From 2005 to 2008, for example, Alberta’s per capita spending on social services was 33 percent lower than the national average.
The top and bottom bars are illustrations that Albertans are not the stereotypical “hard right-wingers” that some might believe.
