Local Economies Matter

Thank God we have a real economist like Harper as PM. Even with the interference of the other no nothings.
If not for the coup attempt I don't think we would even have a deficit.
JMO

Aren't the blue balls new Facebook anti-prorogation sign ups?/toronto red star

Just a bit of a nit to pick:

to truly reflect what's going on the metric should have been gain or loss / size of local labour market. Much the the loss/ gain in some of the US (and Canada) was statistically irrelevant or miniscule.

... Recently

Gord, you can select it to display by percentage rather than an absolute number

Thanks PP.

80,000+ government jobs in Quebec?

I don't think I will see this on the CBC.

There are benefits to not hitching your economic fortunes to the deflating US dollar or debt instrument trading bubbles or bogus inflationary consumer credit markets. However Canada is not out of the shadow of economic instability.

We have allowed our value added industrial base to decay at an alarming rate and we now are as reliant on resource based industry as we were in the era before economic industrialization in the C.D. Howe days.

Eventually we will become totally reliant on foreign nations who turn our raw materials into practical end-user goods. Most consumer goods will be imported.

Not good for sovereignty or economic independence. If you want he text book case against interdependent economics study Japan's recent economic crash and unstable post crash recovery. Economic independence is long term security blanket that responsible government should facilitate.

Not sure I'm buying what their selling
Bill's got it figured though

Detroit's dot is red the entire time.

Bill

If you want the text book case against independent economics, study Myanmar or North Korea. Japan has done very well as a nation because it has set up interactions with the rest of the world.

As far as avoiding dependence on US markets, one glance at a map will show why this is not realistic.

So Canada lost 257,500 jobs in 2009 and (can't find actual official figures) brought in 265,000(earlier official estimate) new immigrants in 2009.

That is insanity.

In December the US lost only 85000 or so jobs.
I wonder if anyone realizes that is because thats all that was left?
The big 9 doing his part for the dictators of the world. Marxist scum!!!

oops big 0 not 9

Proofread proofread proffread

So what happened during the summer of 2008 that caused the huge red American flare-up in the fall ??

Global warming? Nope.

Obama over took Clinton for good in June/July

There is a reason for everything.

Unless we know what percentage of those Canadian jobs are actual private sector jobs - not public sector jobs or jobs "created" by the infusion of tax dollars - then these figures are at best meaningless, and at worse, perhaps outright deceiving.

"Japan has done very well as a nation because it has set up interactions with the rest of the world.

As far as avoiding dependence on US markets, one glance at a map will show why this is not realistic."

I'm glad you're not my investment broker or BoC chairman. ;-0

Had you forgotten Japan's economy/currency crashed and it's central bank was bailed out by the IMF?? Were you aware this was because they were fully dependent of the foreign nations hosting the industry they exported to keep their speculative bubbles expanding? Their banking/market failure very closely resembled the economic melt down the US is now experiencing.

http://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/sgabriel/japancrisis.htm
http://library.thinkquest.org/28837/japan.pdf

Lastly, Because the US is our neighbour and customer for resources, does not mean that our banks be allowed to partake in their central bank's risky speculation on bubble economies. We Learned what happens when central banks allow over-investment in risky inflationary speculatory bubbles watching Japan's Yen/economy crash. Japan has not yet fully recovered some 20 years later. We didn't partake in the US Banking over-investment/debt bubble/credit spree and we are better off for it.

Canada is deemed by currency and banking investors to be the 3rd most stable currency and economy on the globe. We did so by selling off most of our "risky" reserve instruments and avoiding letting our charter banks dabble in risky credit bubbles or debt speculating.

Canada COULD be the New North American Switzerland IF we had politicians and a central bank that were more open to allowing the loonie to valuate and offering a transnational banking industry as a wealth engine. Americans, Japanese and Chinese are clawing at the door to put their money in Canadian banks, currency, and bonds but we are still hung up on expanding the roll of the chartered bank system.

If we are not going to rebuild our industrial independence we should at least look at international banking as an alternative.

Obama's Green Jobs Program: $135,294 Per Job
http://blogs.investors.com/capitalhill/

Bill, it is bad form to not attribute others' writings without references. Just a tip.

A casual appraisal of the War of 1812, would indicate that the main objective of the US forces was to seize Upper Canada(Ontario). A brief tour of the eastern US would show why. trees rocks, swamps, mountains, hills.......
Most US tourist's impressions of Canada (Southern Ont) is surprise it is so flat and fertile..
Throughout the War of 1812, north-south trade continued----wheat, flour, whiskey and beef...from Upper Canada.
Canada's industry is the result of British and American investment to exploit the Canadian market.
Industrial integration of the US/Canada began during WW2, when an unprepared US critically needed the engaged Canadian War Industry.
Canadian Car and Foundry, Fort William(Thunderbay) produced the Harvard (licenced NA T6) for Canada, UK and US. The first orders (1000) for then new SBD2 Helldiver were awarded CC@F.....
North-South trade is natural.

sasquatch - Noorduyn produced the Harvard in Montreal during the war; CC&F took over the dies and production post-WWII. You're right about the Helldiver, but it was designated SBW-1 for CC&F examples and Canadian Fairchild built aircraft were SBF-1. The SBD was the Douglas Dauntless - totally different from the SB2C which was a U.S.-built Helldiver

Just for the record! Now back to the topic...

Bill: "Lastly, Because the US is our neighbour and customer for resources, does not mean that our banks be allowed to partake in their central bank's risky speculation on bubble economies. We Learned what happens when central banks allow over-investment in risky inflationary speculatory bubbles watching Japan's Yen/economy crash. Japan has not yet fully recovered some 20 years later. We didn't partake in the US Banking over-investment/debt bubble/credit spree and we are better off for it."

I couldn't agree more.

If when you refer to rebuilding our industrial independence, you mean reducing our international trade, that is where we part company.

As to Japan's currency/ economic crash, I was well aware, but had attributed that to a bursting of a bubble of their own making, and their subsequent failure to address their banking insolvency, preferring to inflate and paper over the non performing loans, and yes there are ominous similarities to what is happening south of here.

The trick to increasing our industrial output isn't to stop trading - it's to open Canada up to more foreign capital and give technical innovators room to explore and innovate. I have much more confidence in the ability of Canadian entrepeneurs to adapt to changing circumstances than I do that of our governments, and it would be for the best if we could get the latter out of the former's way.

Watch for the hurricane Katrina event on the gulf coast.

Eric