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Canada For The Win - Economically


Wetcoaster

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Since the global recession hit, Canada weathered the storm better than other industrialized nations. Canada had the strongest economic growth over the recession and recovery among Group of Seven (G-7) countries. Real GDP is now well above pre-recession levels — the best performance in the G-7.

http://www.budget.gc.../chap2-eng.html

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We were not hit as hard and we recovered faster. That was the message that the Conservatives hammered home in fashioning their first majority government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper during the last election. Stay the economic course based on past performance was the winning message to the voters.

And it seems that lead will continue over the long term.

The Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development predicts Canada will lead the Group of Seven industrialized economies in growth over the next half century.

In a report released Friday, the OECD says it expects Canada's real gross domestic product will average 2.2 per cent growth annually over the next 50 years.

Canada, it predicts, will be near the top on a per-capita basis – possibly a truer measure of success — with only Japan sneaking ahead.

http://www.cbc.ca/ne...ada-growth.html

However there are potential pitfalls ahead in the short term.

Although Canada has a massive trading relationship with US - we are both each others biggest trading partners - the Conservatives have set out to diversify our markets recognizing that the US and Europe have some serious structural problems ahead.

China as a bigger trading partner has been part of the Harper agenda for several years and now he has set his sights on the burgeoning economy of India having just completed a multi-day trade mission to that country.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said today from India's bustling hi-tech centre of Bangalore that, re-election or not, U.S. President Barack Obama still faces an economy that will continue to grow slowly, meaning Canada must look to new markets.

"The reality is the United States, while it will remain our largest economic partner for the foreseeable future, it will likely continue to be a slow-growing economy," said Harper, who is on a trade mission in India. "[For Canada] to realize its full economic potential, it will have to diversify to countries like India that are growing and expected to grow much more rapidly."

"We can as a country continue to look at all these worrying developments around the world and fret," Harper said. "We're going to have a lot of these kinds of problems with us for a while."

"We have got to focus on the mid-term, and keep making the decisions and changes necessary in our own country so that we realize the opportunities to create jobs and growth regardless of what may happen in the U.S., Europe and other economies that have longer-term problems," the prime minister said.

Referring to the looming fiscal crisis in the U.S. – the so-called fiscal cliff – Harper added that "the world would be immensely helped if the U.S. could deal with this immediate issue and if the Europeans could accelerate progress on their debt issues."

http://www.cbc.ca/ne...e-thursday.html

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Certainly Mario Levebvre with the conf board of Canada agrees. Just heard a keynote from him in Saskatoon this week. Canada has such a strong potential for commodity exports and manufacturing, he argue there's no reason the economy would falter in Canada unless a series of mistakes are made.

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Harper can wish the fiscal cliff away but even if it's true it will only be replaced with something worse down the line. And Europe isn't remotely close to fixing their debt problems. No amount of Greek austerity will fix things anymore they NEED to default and when that happens the **** will hit the fan for real. All these things are going to put a hit on Canada whether we want it or not.

Similar things await when Ontario deals with it's own financial mess. Sure, that's provincial, but if things slow down even more in our largest and most economically significant province the feds will feel it. Big time.

Oh, and each individual Canadian is at record levels of debt compared to their incomes. Many, many people are barely making their monthly payments. At record low interest rates.

Heck, the conservatives themselves recently noted that their plan to return to surpluses might (read will for sure) be delayed.

Oh, and even if it does turn up roses our housing market could easily be looked at as a housing bubble and if it pops we will be go through the same sort of recessions every other country were comparing ourselves went through after they ran up their house prices.

Way, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to early to be patting oneself on the back. In fact it would be wise to get the books in order sooner rather than later or run the risk of falling into the same situations the US and Europe find themselves in.

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Certainly Mario Levebvre with the conf board of Canada agrees. Just heard a keynote from him in Saskatoon this week. Canada has such a strong potential for commodity exports and manufacturing, he argue there's no reason the economy would falter in Canada unless a series of mistakes are made.

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^ That's good but if Europe and the US implode financially (actually that should be when not if especially given the lack of road left to kick the can down in some locations) then China will loose a big chunk of it's trinket market.

China will still be a customer but perhaps not at the same level as now.

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^ This. This right here. I don't think many Canadians understand how bad our environment is being raped in order to sustain these numbers. The conservatives stopped protecting rivers and fisheries, they cut forestry workers (rangers and park staff, stuff like that) and sell oil companies to China so they can destroy northern Alberta and pump crude oil through BC via the pipeline (which, btw, is being made by a company which has a TERRIBLE track record of oil spills from their pipes. I mean BAD. Like 720 spills over 10 years.)

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I'm sure many posters are working hard to figure out a way to blame Harper in all of this. Don't worry, they'll come up with something soon.

Decade of conservative gov, highest growth rate, lowest unemployment rate, strong dollar, most educated......but somehow conservatives are doing a bad job. After all, look how great Obama is, more added debt than anyone in history by a long shot, and finally reached that goal of having a worse employment rate than Canada!

We've have the lowest corporate tax rate in the developed world, we are the #1 country to invest in according to Forbes last year. The US has instituted massive unprecedented spending and welfare expansions, we are now more conservative than they are. We are rising, they are sinking. Is it possible some people might actually pay attention and learn something from this?

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I'm sure many posters are working hard to figure out a way to blame Harper in all of this. Don't worry, they'll come up with something soon.

Decade of conservative gov, highest growth rate, lowest unemployment rate, strong dollar, most educated......but somehow conservatives are doing a bad job. After all, look how great Obama is, more added debt than anyone in history by a long shot, and finally reached that goal of having a worse employment rate than Canada!

We've have the lowest corporate tax rate in the developed world, we are the #1 country to invest in according to Forbes last year. The US has instituted massive unprecedented spending and welfare expansions, we are now more conservative than they are. We are rising, they are sinking. Is it possible some people might actually pay attention and learn something from this?

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I'm sure many posters are working hard to figure out a way to blame Harper in all of this. Don't worry, they'll come up with something soon.

Decade of conservative gov, highest growth rate, lowest unemployment rate, strong dollar, most educated......but somehow conservatives are doing a bad job. After all, look how great Obama is, more added debt than anyone in history by a long shot, and finally reached that goal of having a worse employment rate than Canada!

We've have the lowest corporate tax rate in the developed world, we are the #1 country to invest in according to Forbes last year. The US has instituted massive unprecedented spending and welfare expansions, we are now more conservative than they are. We are rising, they are sinking. Is it possible some people might actually pay attention and learn something from this?

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The debt to income ratio isn't concerning. It's a poor indicator of things.

In terms of affordability, People's payments on those debts aka mortgages (make up a huge %) are actually costing less of people's income percentage than they did at any other time in the past 20 years. Plus those debt numbers are driven primarily by a rise in the value of a house... But with modern interest those houses are just as ...more actually... affordable.

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The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development that the OP is quoting was nice enough to give us a 50 year outlook. Wonder what that 50 year outlook was in 2006-7 before the crash. It didnt take very long to render that outlook completely off. I dont put much stock in their long term projections.

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The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development that the OP is quoting was nice enough to give us a 50 year outlook. Wonder what that 50 year outlook was in 2006-7 before the crash. It didnt take very long to render that outlook completely off. I dont put much stock in their long term projections.

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