Apart from all the other issues raised by the demise (fingers crossed) of our nasty and brutish Conservative government, it’s clear that very, very few Canadians understand how our political system works. I’ve long thought that this is one reason for the anemic interest in politics in Canada, and the widespread feeling that there iscontinue reading
November 2008 Archives
You knew it was coming…
The inevitable exhortation to go shopping — with a new twist. If you don’t pony up, the recession is all your fault, according to Premier McGuinty: “But if you don’t buy that car — even though you can actually afford it — if you don’t buy that fridge, if you don’t shop at Christmas time,continue reading
Because nobody before Gen Y graduated into a recession
Generation Y confronts economic crisis Schwartz, 26, says he’s now more realistic about the chance of landing his dream job. “I’m going to have to be a lot less picky,” he says. “As a new grad, I’m worried I won’t be able to get a good job right away. “You’ll really have to be thecontinue reading
The Rae Rehab continues
Rae Days were hated, but that doesn’t mean they were a bad idea. I thought at the time, and continue to think now, that shutting down services for a few days and having a limited number of unpaid days off in order to keep a greater people working full-time at full-time salaries is an excellent,continue reading
Dragging their feet against the inevitable
According to today’s paper, the City of Toronto plans to announce a deal to impose a five-cent tax on plastic bags at a news conference today with Loblaws, Sobeys, Metro, and their lobby group, the Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors. Missing in action? The news conference is not expected to include representatives of the Retailcontinue reading
Ideological cluelessness abounds
Harper speaks to reporters in Lima on November 23rd: “Recent private sector forecasts suggest the strong possibility of a technical recession at the end of this year and the beginning of next,” Harper said [November 23] at a news conference in Lima, where he was attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. “I am surprised atcontinue reading
The Shipping News
Someone told me yesterday that the Capesize cargo ships his company uses to import and export its product have fallen in price from $220,000 a day to $9,000 a day. That’s no typo — these ships can now be had for less than 10K per day. Daily rates are continuing to plummet. The Baltic Drycontinue reading
Ow, my neck
November 21, 2008: Harper calls crisis worst since 1929 October 7, 2008: “I think there’s probably a lot of great buying opportunities emerging in the stock market as a consequence of all this panic.” September 15, 2008: “My own belief is if we were going to have some sort of big crash or recession, wecontinue reading
Beer cheer for depressionary times
There’s a very entertaining profile in the New Yorker of the great Dogfish Head microbrewery and its founder, Sam Calagione — link below. I’ve been a fan for a long time, but I’m not enough of a beer geek to know they had this kind of following. My only concern is that this kind ofcontinue reading
I’m asking nicely
Late to the party, Scotia Economics conceded at last yesterday that the Canadian housing boom is over. But fear not — we’re still different: “This is not a ‘U.S.-style’ bust caused by overbuilding, speculative buying and imprudent lending, but rather a cyclical slowdown accompanied by a valuation adjustment in several large centres where booming demandcontinue reading