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ECON 380 v4: Public Finance/Expenditure Report a Broken Link

ECON 380: Public Finance/Expenditures discusses the basic economics tools required to evaluate government policies for expenditures on health care, public pensions, Employment Insurance, education, and social welfare programs.

Lesson 1

Supplementary Readings
R.A.Podar College of Commerce & Economics. (n.d.). Introduction to public finance.

Lesson 3

Supplementary Reading
Boyer, M., Gravel, É., & Mokbel, S. (2013). The valuation of public projects: Risks, cost of financing and cost of capital. C.D. Howe Institute Commentary, 388.

Lesson 6

Supplementary Readings
Burkinshaw, S., Terajima, Y., & Wilkins, C. A. (2022). Income inequality in Canada. Bank of Canada.
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. (2016). Growing gap.
Statistics Canada. (2025, July 16). Distributions of household economic accounts for income, consumption, saving and wealth of Canadian households, first quarter 2025. 
The Canadian Press. (2024, July 16). Income inequality hit record high at start of 2025, Statistics Canada says. CBC.
Yassin, S., Petit, G., & Abraham, Y. (2024, July 18). The troubling rise of income and wealth inequality in Canada. Policy Opinions.

Lesson 7

Required Reading
Fuss, J., & Munro, G. (January 2024). The growing debt burden for Canadians: 2024 edition. Fraser Institute.
Supplementary Reading
Mueller, D. (1976). Public choice: A survey. Journal of Economic Literature, 14(2), 395–433.

Lesson 8

Supplementary Readings
Department of Finance Canada. (2024). Equalization program. Governement of Canada.
Department of Finance Canada. (2024). Federal transfers to provinces and territories. Government of Canada.
Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. (2024, December 13). National funding agreement models.

Lesson 9

Required Readings
Canadian Institute for Health Information (October 2011). Health care cost drivers: The facts.
Canadian Institute for Health Information. (November 2024). Health expenditure data in brief.
Canadian Institute for Health Information. (2024, November 7). National health expenditure trends, 2023—Snapshot.
Canadian Medical Association. (n.d.). How is health care funded in Canada?
Landon, S., McMillan, M. L., Muralidharan, V., & Parsons, M. (2006). Does health-care spending crowd out other provincial government expenditures? Canadian Public Policy, 32(2), 121–141.
Supplementary Reading
Department of Finance Canada. (2024, December 23). Major federal transfers. Government of Canada.
Health Canada. (2025, June 25). About Canada’s health care system. Government of Canada.
Health Canada. (2023, February 7). Working together to improve health care for Canadians. Government of Canada. 
Moir, M., & Barua, B. (2022). Comparing performance of universal health care countries, 2022. Fraser Institute.
Palacios, M., & Barua, B. (August 2018). The price of public health care insurance, 2018. Fraser Institute.

Lesson 11

Required Readings
Dodge, D. (2005, November 9). Economic and financial efficiency: The importance of pension plans. Bank of Canada.
Brown, R. K., & Eadie, S. A. (2019). The great pension debate: Finding common ground. C.D. Howe Institute Commentary, (543).

Lesson 12

Required Reading
Tedds, L. M., Crisan, D., & Petit, G. (2021, February 18). Basic income in Canada: Principles and design features.
UNICEF Canada. (October 2023). Child poverty in Canada: Let’s finish this.
Supplementary Reading
Indigenous Services Canada. (2021). National report on the 2018 to 2020 First Nations–led engagement on income assistance. Government of Canada.

Lesson 13

Required Readings
Hoxby, C. M. (1996). Are efficiency and equity in school finance substitutes or complements? Journal of Economic Perspectives, 10(4), 51–72.