The figures are out and Canada is officially IN a recession. Two quarters with negative growth. That IS the definition of a recession. But Harper kind of denies it. He claims things are economically ‘good’ because of him and his policies. But, still, negative is negative and I hate the guy so I want to shout loudly ‘recession!’.
But that may NOT be the real truth. The real truth appears to be more like ‘stasis’ or ‘status quo’ or vanilla-bland…..hard to say. Comatose. Resting. Side-lined. Whatever. The economy is flat. That’s it: flat. I mean; -.5% negative growth is hardly negative. Not really. Maybe if they check again in a couple of weeks we ‘ticked’ up +.5%. Hard to condemn even a dickhead like Harper for half of one percent.
But, then again…………the economy is measured using ‘metrics’ and numbers arbitrarily chosen years ago and GDP includes such nonsense as the ‘output’ of wages fighting forest fires when the cost of the loss of the trees is NOT included but the wages of the firefighters is. GDP includes the wages of the prison guards but not the loss of human capital of the incarcerated. Hardly what I would call an accurate measurement of productive gain. The point? GDP is a stupid number.
More dead whales? Doesn’t count. More illegal drug use? Doesn’t count. Sale of the Canadian Wheat Board? THAT counts. So….really……what are we really talking about, here?
More political gibberish, really.
To have a sense of the state of the economy, you really have to use your own metrics and ignore the official stats to some degree. They count, of course, but they don’t count in the real world except as a partial indicator of what is really happening. The real indicator is something you either make up from your own life or you make up from reading a lot.
Can you read enough to know the state of the economy? I don’t think so.
But – gut feel – I think we are in a recession. A real one. I see rural communities struggling. I see more and more Walmarts and more and more ‘cheap crap’ and I don’t see the next generation doing very well at all. I think our education system is failing our youth. I think our health care system is sadly lacking in good service, response-time or even the latest in technology. I think the justice system sucks. I see Canada as slipping behind in so many ways and I see political reliance on resources to the exclusion of more modern industries. I am a critic of our economy. I admit that freely and I feel negatively towards Canada’s future if the current political thinking continues (and it seems to have taken root in all three major parties).
And I haven’t even mentioned climate change and what that means on a macro-economic scale.
So, the point? I want Harper sent packing but not because of so-called negative economic growth. Send him packing because he has no vision, he has no heart, he is a control freak and is NOT a good PM. Send him packing because he is a Luddite and a bigot, a toady and a sycophant to big business and is a baby-doc-style bully. But, honestly, do not attribute to Harper much of anything based on the economy.
Our Off the Grid Home 
The spinners are spinning but it can not hide the fact that Canada is in deficit. When oil was at 85 dollars give or take some Canada did not have a balanced budget. Harper deficits depending on who does the calculation Andrew Coyne says six, the CBC says seven, is it actually eight? An economist said today that the Canadian economy has been flatlined for years. Infrastructure spending does stimulate the economy as does other types of social spending. A major goal of the Harper government is to shrink the size of some types of government spending. For example the budget for veterans affairs has one billion dollars of unspent money from last years’ budget. So the story goes fourteen billion dollars was promised and budgeted but went unspent elsewhere in the economy in the past year. Thirty percent of Canadians or more agree with Harper’s contraction of spending but does a government have a role in economic stimulus? Do we need growth in government spending or continued contraction of government spending while remaining in deficit for six or seven or eight years under Harper Aisha’s been te case.
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Honestly…I think any economic philosophy is better than the ‘old-way’ of Harper.
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An interesting article in this weeks Economist. Most 1st world economies are between a rock( recession) and a hard place( interest rates are too low to drop). So? Wadda we do? Well, apparently (according to the article) Canada’s manufacturing base has dropped from 18% of GDP in 2000 to 10%. Factory employment has dropped by 500,000 jobs in the last 10 years. 20,000 factories of various sizes have closed in Canada in the past 13 years.
Why? Canada is a producer of components ,not final products. So foreign competition is slowly eating us alive.
Their recommendation, reducing border regulations and investing in new technology . Justin Trudea’s “infrastructure” improvement ideas might not be far off the mark.
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I know! I hate Just-in (based on his silver-spoon, so-called good looks and vacuous statements) but I agree with infrastructure investment.
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The term “rust belt” is being applied to parts of Canada. Innovation is required as an investment in our future prosperity. Canada can be a leader.
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It can be, I suppose. But all I really care about is NOT slipping into 3rd world status. Hell, I experienced better, faster, cleaner, more pleasant and more efficient health care in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Even Mexico is better in places. And that kind of general, societal, ‘behavioural’ change within the economy comes from leadership – the kind we do not see even a hint of from the Muldeaupers. How is it that some sheep get to the front of the pack…? Because they are ALL sheep, that’s how!
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Yes, I get your point about the economy and is it under much rational direction and whose direction? Policy and investment can strategical help an economy. The U.S. follows a policy of quantitative easing and its economy is growing and recovering and reducing its deficit. Some nations are trying to coattail the American economy but not very successfully.
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