Department of Economics
University of Toronto
150 St. George Street
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S 3G7
Telephone: (416) 978-6128
foot @ chass.utoronto.ca
David K. Foot, Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Toronto, is co-author of the bestselling books Boom Bust & Echo 2000: Profiting from the Demographic Shift in the New Millennium and Boom Bust & Echo: How to Profit from the Coming Demographic Shift (with Daniel Stoffman, Stoddart 2000; Macfarlane, Walter & Ross, 1998, 1996). (French language version Entre le Boom et l'Écho: Comment mettre à profit la réalité démographique, Les Éditions du Boréal, 1996.) These books reflect his current research interests which lie in the numerous relationships between economics and demographics and in the resulting implications for both private and public policies, especially in the Canadian context.
Following his undergraduate degree in Australia and his doctorate in economics from Harvard University, Professor Foot's research involved analysis and projections of the Canadian economy. Subsequently, he focused on Canada's declining population growth and associated population aging as one of the fundamental and often neglected determinants of the challenges to economic performance and policy.
His research has resulted in contributions to a variety of special fields such as marketing, human resource planning, corporate organization, saving and investing, housing, education, recreation and leisure, unemployment, migration, government expenditures, and intergovernmental relations. A number of these themes are explored in two of his previously published books, Canada's Population Outlook: Demographic Futures and Economic Challenges (1982) and, with Blossom T. Wigdor, The Over Forty Society (1988).
In addition to academic writings and contributions to professional journals and to the popular media, Professor Foot's work in the area of public policy has included research and submissions to many provincial and federal government commissions and numerous consulting and conference assignments for both public and private organizations.
He is a two-time recipient (in 1983 and 1992) of the University of Toronto undergraduate teaching award, and in 1992 received one of the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education's 3M Awards for Teaching Excellence, which recognizes outstanding Canadian university educators.
