Master of Arts (MA)

<p>The purpose of this thesis is to construct a very simple econometric model to explain Canada's Gross National Expenditure (G.N.E.) during the post-world war II years, 1947-1962, and to indicate how this simple model may be used as a tool in the formulation of Canada's short-run economic policy.</p> <p>In form this thesis is divided into five chapters. The first chapter gives a simple explanation or a general theory of the determination of G.N.E., while the second chapter analysis the historical behaviour of Canada's G.N.E. with a view to determining: (a) the main factors which were responsible for producing short-run changes in the level of this aggregate, and (b) whether there has been any stability in the pattern of these changes. this being done, the third chapter develops, on the basis of the background knowledge provided by Chapters I and II, an hypothesis concerning the short-run determination of Canada's G.N.E. The fourth chapter then presents the statistical estimates of the mathematical relationships derived from this hypothesis, and attempts to select that estimating equation which gives the best explanation of Canada's G.N.E. Lastly, Chapter V summarieses chapters I to IV and discusses in particular the use of the selected estimating equation as a simple forecasting tool.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

<p>A survey of the growth and the disposition of the investments of Canadian life insurance companies over the period 1927 to 1946.</p> / Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

To attempt a comprehensive survey of the development and main problems of the Canadian federal debt may seem overly ambitious in the necessarily short span of an undergraduate thesis. But heated conflict over principles of fiscal policy which by and large determine the growth of the debt, and a more general lack of information on particular Canadian problems relating to it, make even a summary survey of some value: and this is all the more true in the absence of any great amount of literature on the subject. Canada's net debt of some eleven and one-half billions of dollars may be just another example of governmental inefficiency to the steelworker; the small businessman may think of it only in terms' of the larger taxes he must pay to take-care of the interest charges; and a financier, willing enough to accept past debt growth as an essential antecedent to Canadian national development; maybe just as unalterably opposed to any further growth. The fact that all these men lack a "rounded Approach'" to fiscal and debt policy is important. As voters, they determine the party in power in Ottawa, and so indirectly, the course of Canadian public finance. But more than a lack of knowledge or apathy on the part of the citizens justifies an attempt to treat some first principles; three trends, forming a significant part of the contimporary political scene, urge knowledge of federal fiscal policy, especially as it relates to the public debt. In the first place, the years since Confederation have seen a tremendous increase in the absolute size of the debt. The consequent growth of the interest charges, which form the real "burden of the debt", has proceeded at only a slightly slower rate. Were the national income to slump again as it did in the early thirties, it would prove even more of a strain on the economy to take care of the interest charges than it did then. We may very properly take an interest in the largest single item in the federal budget, especially one which can cause so much difficulty. Secondly, the present trend in the government towards what may be called an economy of "welfare capitalism" is a costly process. The increase in the debt that this may entail is worthy of careful study. Thirdly, the increasing favour with which fiscal policy called for chronic government deficits is viewed calls for a searching review of the economic reasoning that lies behind it, in the light of the continuing increases in the debt that it may cause. No attempt has been made to carry the topic beyond the bounds of the federal debt. The public debt of the various provinces and municipalities is both extensive and of complex structure, worthy of a separate study in itself; but it is not nearly so important in the aggregate, as the federal debt. Moreover, the limitations of space would prevent an adequate treatment of any part of the public debt, should we attempt to deal with them all at once. It seems both fair and reasonable, therefore, to confine the topic to the most important segment of the public debt, and deal exclusively with the Canadian federal debt. Whenever the phrase "the public debt" is used in the text for brevity, or to avoid monotony, it should be remembered that it is to this particular portion of it that we refer. Finally, all attempts at justification and apology aside, the author wishes to express his gratitude to those who so generously aided the completion of this work. To Dr. R.C.McIvor, of the Department of Political Economy, his thanks are due for much patient review of the rough manuscript, and far many helpful suggestions. The searching comments of his colleagues in the Honour Course, and especially of Miss Willa Harwood and Mr. John Panabaker, not infrequently spurred him on. Responsibility for the final version, must of course, be accepted by the author alone. / Bachelor of Arts (BA)

<p>In In recent times, such phrases as, "Standard of Living" and "Purchasing Power", are on everybody's lips. And yet these everyday expressions have no intelligible meaning for many people. We find that in trying to clarify the concept of real wages, we soon get into enough statistical difficulties, to render the conclusion less positive than we had hoped, would result.</p> <p>We have attempted our study in the following order. First: An historical review of real wages in Canada, obtained from wage rates, weighted with the cost of living and adjusted for unemployment. Second: An analysis of "Earnings Among Wage-Earners in Canada", as published by the Dominion Bureau of Statistics in Bulletin No. 33 of the census of 1931. Third: An attempt is made to relate these earnings to representative budgets for that year.</p> / Bachelor of Arts (BA)