Canada has a massive problem: our national productivity is near the bottom of the G7. Decades of government policies, from free trade to tax cuts, haven't worked.

Why? Because policymakers are focused on greed (incentives) and not enough on fear (competition and risk).

We dive into the core failure of Canadian economic policy, exposing how corporate welfare and easy access to foreign workers kill innovation. Plus, hear the shocking truth about why Canadian retailers won't stock products from homegrown businesses until they succeed in the U.S. first.

We discuss Charles Lamman’s critique and Don Drummond's "confessions" to find out how to fix Canada's risk-aversion crisis and finally push our economy forward.

Chapters:

00:00:00 | Defining Productivity: Real GDP per Hour Worked

00:01:42 | Canada's Long Decline: The Charles Lamman Critique

00:03:15 | Don Drummond’s Confessions: The Failure of Decades of Policies

00:04:14 | Red Tape: The Omission That Stops Building

00:04:51 | The Core Flaw: Too Much Greed, Not Enough Fear

00:06:46 | Corporate Welfare and the Temporary Foreign Worker Trap

00:08:01 | Canada’s National Risk Aversion: Why Retailers Look South

Research:

Labour productivity and related measures, by business sector industry, seasonally adjusted, fourth quarter 2025

Productivity is an urgent problem for Canada. The response? A 15-year study

Confessions of a Serial Productivity Researcher

Canada: Q4 Productivity Slips Under the Weight of Tariffs and Uncertainty

From Bad to Worse: Canada’s Productivity Slowdown is Everyone’s Problem

Eighteen ideas on how to kickstart the Canadian economy

What Is Canada’s Productivity Performance and How Does It Compare to Other Countries?*

Towards An Inclusive Innovative Canada

https://canada2020.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/020317-EN-FULL-FINAL.pdf

https://www.ft.com/content/b7e6996b-f896-4a45-aad3-d1068e88341a?syn-25a6b1a6=1

Out of Nowhere: How Canada Fell Behind Alabama

Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux

Produced by Meredith Martin

This podcast is funded by the Neptis Foundation and brought to you by the Smart Prosperity Institute.