Dynamic Tensions: Markets, Federalism, and Canada's Economic Future

David Robinson is an economics professor and dean of the Faculty of
Social Sciences at Laurentian University.

Worried about the statist, centralizing thrust of Canadian
constitutional debate? If so, this may be the book for you. Robson
provides an informed and intelligent attack on interprovincial trade
barriers, and a solid discussion of which provincial and federal
policies should or should not be harmonized. He carefully places all
this vital Canadian content within a philosophical framework with a
strongly libertarian tinge.

The theme of the book is the tension between “civil liberties” and
“positive obligations.” Freeing interprovincial markets and fixing
federalism can help resolve the tension, according to Robson.
Federalism, among its other virtues, provides a way to check government
intervention in markets.

Robson knows and understands the academic literature on fiscal
federalism, as well as the huge volume of commission reports and
constitutional debate. He acknowledges the advantages of centralized
institutions for certain purposes and decentralization for others, and
he is prepared to make some trade-offs between unfettered liberty and
the Canadian desire for order, efficiency, and justice. Robson does
knock the straw man of central planning, and he explicitly opposes an
overly active role for government. Even so, if you think the C.D. Howe
Institute is simply a front for the business community, you may be
surprised by the balance. This is a book that deserves careful, critical
reading.