This new series will provide in-depth examinations of specific aspects of our economic performance and social progress, often using new data sets, and analyze the two-way linkages and interaction between economic performance and social progress. The theme of the first issue of the annual is whether the various components of economic performance in the 1990s have contributed to social progress. The authors question whether there is still a strong relationship running from economic performance to social progress and if there are instances where social progress is impeded by certain trends in economic performance. Contributors include Miles Corak (Statistics Canada), Kathleen Day (University of Ottawa), Don Drummond (chief economist, Toronto Dominion Bank), Pierre Fortin (UQAM), R. Quentin Grafton (University of Ottawa), Frank L. Graves (Ekos Research), Andrew Heisz (Statistics Canada), John F. Helliwell (UBC and Oxford), Andrew Jackson (Canadian Council on Social Development), Paul Jenkins (Bank of Canada), Jane Jenson (Université de Montréal), Brian O'Reilly (Bank of Canada), Lars Osberg (Dalhousie University), Garnett Picot (Statistics Canada), Daniel Schwanen (IRPP), and Jim Stanford (Canadian Auto Workers).