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Toward Prosperity: The Transformation of Atlantic Canada's Economy
272 pages, Paperback
Published May 13, 2025
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About the author
David Campbell
229 books17 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author with this name in the Goodreads database.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 13, 2025
Everyone in the Atlantic Provinces should read this - it explains a lot. Growing up in the Maritimes, I knew we lived in the ‘poorer’ provinces, but I did not know why or what could be done about it. This book sets out very clearly the facts of no growth (population and economy) in the Atlantic Provinces since the 1950s, and why this has been a problem.
It shows the demographics of age, the many people living in rural areas, dependency on EI even when there are good jobs in the area, seasonal incomes, more public employers than private, “low” levels of entrepreneurship, highest tax rates in Canada - no wonder there was no growth. But PEI and NL both have positives, more so than NB and NS.
There are signs of improvement, maybe even a turnaround, if people and governments support significant change. The population has increased and the economy has done better in the last 5-8 years - but problems of old and insufficient infrastructure and (in my opinion) NIMBY attitudes could stifle long-term and significant change. I will be watching how things go in the next 10-15 years.
It shows the demographics of age, the many people living in rural areas, dependency on EI even when there are good jobs in the area, seasonal incomes, more public employers than private, “low” levels of entrepreneurship, highest tax rates in Canada - no wonder there was no growth. But PEI and NL both have positives, more so than NB and NS.
There are signs of improvement, maybe even a turnaround, if people and governments support significant change. The population has increased and the economy has done better in the last 5-8 years - but problems of old and insufficient infrastructure and (in my opinion) NIMBY attitudes could stifle long-term and significant change. I will be watching how things go in the next 10-15 years.
June 16, 2025
David Campbell and Don Mills have renewed the economic policy debate with their superb new book Toward Prosperity: The Transformation of Atlantic Canada's Economy. It sets out a credible roadmap for improving the region's economy. They support their thesis with a trove of economic data. A perfect book for Atlantic Canadian policy wonks and business people. Here's my full review: https://shorturl.at/SCj9W
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews