Another follow-up; Craig Alexander, TD’s chief economist – it pains me to reference a classic neoclassical bank economist – noted on Lang and O’Leary last night that Canada’s debt to income ratio is high less because of increasing debt and more because real wages are falling. So the deleveraging I
Continue readingTag: Canadian economy
Politics and Entertainment: We’re in an of economic whirlpool with no immediately conceivable way out
An addendum to yesterday’s post with some additional observations referenced from Tavia Grant’s report in The Globe and Mail today. I suggested yesterday that we’re in an economic whirlpool with no immediately conceivable way out, and Tavia suggests implicitly that what could suck us down to the bottom of that
Continue readingPolitics and Entertainment: descending down the pot-holed road of recession towards the sink hole of depression
These remarks of Paul Krugman could easily apply to Canada, for it is essentially homeowners with their massively extended debt load who have bumped our debt to GDP ratio up to 203%, and we too require expansionary fiscal and monetary policies to support the Canadian economy. We won’t be getting
Continue readingPolitics and Entertainment: Combined with Harper Regime’s Austerity Program, Continuous Deleveraging of Household Debt Could be a Serious Issue
House prices have been speculatively bid up to 29% over real value with all the low interest, easy credit banks have been only too willing to give us. They’re just sooo good to us. But a little recent fear has begun a deleveraging of household debt in Canada – which
Continue readingImpolitical: Housing bubble for Canada?
The Economist thinks Canada is vulnerable: To assess the risks of a further slump, we track two measures of valuation. The first is the price-to-income ratio, a gauge of affordability. The second is the price-to-rent ratio, which is a bit like the price-to-earnings ratio used to value companies. Just as
Continue readingBigCityLib Strikes Back: Our Economic Future
Quite middling. Because it was pretty middling when the leading indicators were running alot higher. Manufacturing was particularly crap, which is bad news for Ontario.
Continue readingPolitics and Entertainment: Armine vs. Canada’s Poster Boy for Capitalism
On last night’s Lang and O’Leary Exchange, given that the odds were 3 to 1/2, Armine Yalnizyan held her own against Kevin O’Leary, Canada’s poster boy for capitalism, a bank economist, and a corporate CEO. Amanda Lang did her best to make sure that Armine was heard in the din
Continue readingStimulative austerity bearing fruit in Britain? Not. Nor globally
George Osborne was quick out of the gates with the austerity as stimulus gambit. Which as everybody from myself to Paul Krugman predicted was going to be a flop. Osborne has been trying to save face by arguing that his … Continue reading →
Continue readingRed Tory v.3.0.3: Bob Rae on the Economy
Good speech from last week by Bob Rae on the Canadian economy in the global context.
It’s short on details, but well aimed in its critique of “ideological islands of waste and profligacy” in the Conservatives’ government spending agenda.
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The economy lab, the dark age of free trade theory, and the naive view on natural resources and economic development
Over at the Economy Lab in the Globe which Failed, which itself has gone from bad to worse, one of the economists they keep in their stable has either produced an extraordinarily naive analysis or a dishonest one. I am … Continue reading →
Continue readingPolitics and Entertainment: Pathological Commitment to the Ideology of Austerity Brings Only Economic Stagnation
The curse of austerity – thestar.com
This is a very insightful analysis of our current situation. Here’s a bit of a gloss on it:
Neither the private sector nor consummer spending seems to be able to stimulate growth in the economy. This is the real …
Continue readingProfit, wage, NDP, and tax revenue growth in Newfoundland and Labrador
Although I covered it off in my rebuttal to the Minister of Finance Thomas Marshall in the last post I thought maybe a graphic would be a more compelling way to illustrate what has been going on in Newfoundland and … Continue reading →
Continue readingA without prejudice rejoinder to the Minister of Finance
On Wednesday of last week the Minister of Finance for Newfoundland and Labrador Thomas Marshall was interviewed by CBC Central Morning about a report I did for the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour (NLFL). In one respect, the fact ……
Continue readingThe 1 % responds: We all have lobbyists!
As the CBC bends over backwards to be fair and balanced they gave the top 1% the opportunity to respond to the Occupy Movement. I will not bother with the all the detail of the rather detail-less criticism of the … Continue reading →
Continue readingPolitics and Entertainment: Global News | Interactive map: ‘Occupy Wall Street’ events taking place across Canada on Saturday
Global News | Interactive map: ‘Occupy Wall Street’ events taking place across Canada on Saturday
“Occupy Wall Street” events across Canada are continuing the movement that began with a small group of people in New York City weeks ago. “Occupy” e…
Continue readingPolitics and Entertainment: Bernake Would Seem to Get It. Does Flaherty?
http://goo.gl/CXd0Y Bernake would seem to get it: laying off government employees creates more unemployment. He also knows that any budget deficit should be constricted over a longer term, that cutting spending in the interests of deficit reductio…
Continue readingImpolitical: The Keeping Canada’s Accountants & Tax Advisors Busy Act
They sure know how to name a statute, these Conservatives: “Minister of Finance introduces the Keeping Canada’s Economy & Jobs Growing Act.” Think the above suggested title fits the bill more appropriately though. They love to tinker with the tax l…
Continue readingImpolitical: Serious times: Harper talking recession
It appears that David Cameron’s speech yesterday to Parliament made a big splash. Beyond the parts where he played up to Canada and made a case for increased trade and business friendly economies as his preferred solutions for economic growth, his word…
Continue readingImpolitical: Ear to the ground
In the news, a few headlines from today and the last 24 hours or so…”Euro zone crisis? It’s more like Armageddon.” It is now morphing into a banking crisis, one with the potential to plunge the European and global economies into a full-blown recess…
Continue readingThe poverty trap for real
Poverty is of course about a lack of money, but it is also about a lack of resources both in the cultural and social sense. I live in a small village of 1800 citizens. Outside of myself, the retired doctor … Continue reading →
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