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Chris Abbott

@c-abbs.bsky.social

48 followers 130 following 10 posts

(Political) Economist at UFCW Canada. Previously at Queen’s University (Comparative & Canadian Political Economy, Growth Models)

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Reposted by Chris Abbott

Rida Abu Rass @aburass.bsky.social · Jun 18

My latest academic article - two years in the making - is finally out.

It explores why some ethnic minority groups can build alliances with majorities in divided societies - and others can’t. Here’s the gist in 8 posts 👇

Chris Abbott @c-abbs.bsky.social · Apr 28

As an important aside: Canada's renewed dependence on oil & gas since the 2000s commodity boom highlights a long-standing vulnerability that doesn't get enough attention - the "staples trap."

Anyways, shout out to @adamtooze.bsky.social & Cam for giving Canadian political economy some attention.

Chris Abbott @c-abbs.bsky.social · Apr 28

3) Stock market. Another reason oil & gas feels so central: the TSX (world's largest exchange by # of oil & gas issuers) is highly exposed to energy. Energy is the 2nd largest sector on the TSX after financials, with an adjusted market cap weighting of ~19%.

Chris Abbott @c-abbs.bsky.social · Apr 28

2) Trade. This figure shows the importance of oil and gas exports: while industrial & manufactured goods slipped into deeper trade deficits, oil and gas trade surpluses expanded dramatically, which has been responsible for sustaining Canada's overall trade balance.

Chris Abbott @c-abbs.bsky.social · Apr 28

1) Investment. If we decompose GDP growth since early 2000s, growth (&stagnation) in Canada is tied pretty closely to trends in fixed non-residential capital investment - more so than its peers. Breaking this down by industry, oil and gas stands out as the primary driver.

Chris Abbott @c-abbs.bsky.social · Apr 28

He notes the seemingly disproportionate political influence of oil & gas relative to its share of GDP - which he correctly identifies as small. But this misses other major indicators of its economic significance: 1) contribution to investment, 2) contribution to trade, 3) stock market influence.

Chris Abbott @c-abbs.bsky.social · Apr 28

Good @onesandtooze.bsky.social episode on Canada that flagged key aspects of Canada's political economy: importance of housing market, economic geography, continentalism, federalism. @adamtooze.bsky.social did make one mistake I've also made before regarding the oil and gas sector...

Chris Abbott @c-abbs.bsky.social · Mar 8

open.substack.com/pub/siliconc...

Excellent piece by @lugaricano.bsky.social

Trading with Bullies

Economics for a Hard-Power World

open.substack.com

Chris Abbott @c-abbs.bsky.social · Feb 14

In "Canadian Productivity Growth: Stuck in the Oil Sands," the authors conduct a growth accounting decomposition of Cdn economy and find that productivity stagnation disappears when the oil sector is excluded, putting TFP growth on par with the US since 2001.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Canadian productivity growth: Stuck in the oil sands

We study the behaviour of Canadian Total Factor Productivity (TFP) growth over the past 60 years. We find that the observed stagnation during the last 20 years is accounted for entirely by the oil se....

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Chris Abbott @c-abbs.bsky.social · Feb 14

Finally. The obsession with internal trade barriers as the root of Canada’s economic woes—esp. productivity stagnation—is misleading.

Now, if everyone could shift their attention to some key research by Loertscher & @paupujolas.bsky.social in the Canadian Journal of Economics...

CCPA — Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives @policyalternatives.ca · Feb 14

New from @ccpa-tirp.bsky.social: Canadian politicians are focused on removing "internal trade barriers" to respond to the Trump threat. There's just one problem—there's very little evidence of actual widespread barriers to interprovincial trade. www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

Interprovincial trade won't save Canada from Trump | CCPA

Since January 20, Canada has been at economic war with its largest trading partner and closest international ally. Though U.S. President Donald Trump has paused his promised 25 per cent tariff on mo...

www.policyalternatives.ca

Reposted by Chris Abbott

Justin Wolfers @justinwolfers.bsky.social · Feb 2

This is what happens when you ask me to help sanewash the Trump tariffs.

Chris Abbott @c-abbs.bsky.social · Jan 9

Easily the most sensible, if brief, take on Trudeau’s legacy amid a flood of uninformed opinions.

Emmett Macfarlane 🇨🇦 @emmettmacfarlane.com · Jan 9

I think in a lot of ways the Trudeau Liberals mirrored the Harper Conservatives in that (contrary to Andrew's claim here) the government entered in 2015 with plenty of substance and got quite a few things done, but this waned dramatically over time, and its final two years was awash in listlessness.

National Newswatch @nationalnewswatch.com · Jan 9

The great pretender: Looking back at Trudeau, we see our initial judgment of him when he first entered politics was correct, @acoyne.bsky.social writes. www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

Find out more at Nationalnewswatch.com

Reposted by Chris Abbott

Olivier Jacques @olijacques.bsky.social · Dec 17

New paper out at Socio-Economic Review with Kyle Hanniman, Elizabeth Goodyear Grant, Chris Abbbott and @jsmatthews99.bsky.social, presented long ago at @sasemeeting.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1093/ser/...
On mass attitudes and central bank endorsements of fiscal policy in Canada and the USA

A thread:

When partisanship and technocratic credibility collide: mass attitudes and central bank endorsements of fiscal policy in Canada and the USA

Abstract. Developments over the past decade have made it increasingly difficult for central banks to achieve their macroeconomic objectives without the hel