Turning Point: Moving Beyond Neoconservatism

Agar Adamson is the author of Letters of Agar Adamson, 1914–19 and former chair of the Department of Political Science at Acadia University in Nova Scotia.

As the authors of this timely book point out, Canada has experimented
with two approaches to economic planning. The first favors government
intervention in the economy, while the second favors tax cuts and less
government involvement in the economy. The first approach could be
classified as a samaritan state, while the latter is a form of social
Darwinism. DeMont and Lang contend that Canada has swung between the two
approaches without solving many of its long-term economic woes. It is
time, they suggest, to try a third approach.

According to the authors, recent federal budgets have reflected a
recognition on the part of government that “Canada’s lagging
productivity ... [is] ... the major source of persistent and stubbornly
high unemployment.” Along with deficit reduction and other examples of
long-range economic planning, improving productivity has become a goal
of federal budgets.

DeMont and Lang base part of their argument on the work of Americans
Paul Romer and Robert Reich, a former member of the Clinton cabinet.
Both of these economists have emphasized the primacy of information
technology in the development of the new economy. “[F]ollowing Romer
and Reich,” the authors suggest, “could bring [Canada] into a new
era.”

Notwithstanding its unfortunate avoidance of the separation debate (can
we build a new economy when issues relating to Quebec and national unity
remain unresolved?), Turning Point is a persuasively argued book; it
would not be surprising to see parts of it reflected in future federal
budgets.