This first volume in the Bell Canada Papers on Economic and Public Policy includes essays on productivity and growth, the cost of capital and competitive advantage, globalization and competition policy, worker co-operation and technical change, three visions of competitiveness, agents of change and economic growth, and environmental quality and policy in a global economy.

When will the fiscal dividend appear and what is its likely magnitude? Should deficit targets be replaced by debt targets or debt/GDP targets? Should the fiscal dividend focus on tax cuts and increases in program expenditures? Should the Canadian government shift away from an annual deficit target to budget balance over the cycle to allow automatic stabilizers to play their important buffering role? And if so, what level of contingency reserve is necessary to ensure that cyclical budget balance can be met? Addressing these and other important questions, Fiscal Targets and Economic Growth...

The 2000 Federal Budget is the proceedings of this important policy forum and brings together the findings of these specialists. In this collection of short papers and commentaries the authors focus on a range of issues and implications, beginning with assessments of the budgetary process as we enter the new millennium. They look at the macroeconomic effects, taxation and expenditure aspects, and the implications for social policy of measures contained in the 2000 budget. They examine the alternative perspectives reflected in successive Liberal budgets and conclude with a rapporteur's report...

Contributors include Douglas Gale (NYU) on regulation in the information era; David Smith (Federal Reserve Board) on the globalization of commercial banking; John Chant (Simon Fraser) on the internationalization of Canadian banking; Charles Goodhart (London School of Economics) on the economics of regulation; Ken Carow (Indiana University) on the banking-insurance nexus; Edwin Neave and Lewis Johnson (Queen's) on financial governance; and Charles Freedman (Bank of Canada), Tim O'Neill (Bank of Montreal) and Stephen Poloz (Export Development Canada) on the future of the Canadian financial...

Contributors include Douglas Gale (NYU) on regulation in the information era; David Smith (Federal Reserve Board) on the globalization of commercial banking; John Chant (Simon Fraser) on the internationalization of Canadian banking; Charles Goodhart (London School of Economics) on the economics of regulation; Ken Carow (Indiana University) on the banking-insurance nexus; Edwin Neave and Lewis Johnson (Queen's) on financial governance; and Charles Freedman (Bank of Canada), Tim O'Neill (Bank of Montreal) and Stephen Poloz (Export Development Canada) on the future of the Canadian financial...