Canada is extremely similar in its demographics to the USA economy. There are some differences.
The USA has anti-trust laws, where Canada actually intervenes with government power to stop the exploitation of its workers.
Canada has less agriculture than the USA. Due to its northern position on the globe the agricultural sector is in the southern end of the country.
There is a rating scale called "The Index of Economic Freedom." It is an interesting scale, I don't believe it is the quintessential scale, I prefer the United Nations comparison of countries better especially when it comes to natural resource conservation, but, this is basically a measure of 'opportunity' countries practice in their policies.
The Top 10 for 2009 included both Canada and the USA, which is 'kinda' neat, because, we are among some really 'cool and thriving' countries other than the 'usual' European group we frequently 'akin' ourselves with. In the top 10 Canada is ranked 7th and the USA 8th (click here). The point is we don't have to be Canada-wannabees for economic direction, but, it is a valid comparison to what Canada is doing to find its way out of this Wall Street mess as compared to the USA.
So, that stated, Canada is continuing to spend and its economic minister isn't nearly as concerned about the nation's debt as the Conservatives of the Republican Party in the USA portray its importance.
It clearly tells me that the propaganda from the Murdoch Propaganda Machine is completely disaffecting the USA economy and causing a slow down in the recovery in the USA. I wish Canada would speak out about that because indirectly the USA's economy effects all nations and certainly the economic recovery of both Canada and Mexico.
The 'freeze' that was an attempt at bipartisanship by President Obama is simply a stupid idea that has been politically engineered by the RNC. It dominated the latest election in Massachusetts and now the USA is burdened ONCE AGAIN with idiocy rathrer than productivity. The House should eliminate 'the Republican Deep Freeze' from its bill and therefore it will be tempered in negotiations with the Senate.
The Global Community should take note, the USA is under siege by its Right Wing Media and for some stupid reason it is unable to reign in that power. Any country's ministers with strategies to break this up should advise the White House as soon as possible. The people of the USA are not safe.
Thank you.
Flaherty urged to keep spending taps open (click here)
Jeremy Torobin and Tavia Grant
Ottawa, Toronto — Globe and Mail Update Published on Monday, Feb. 01, 2010 8:15PM EST Last updated on Tuesday, Feb. 02, 2010 7:35AM EST
Canada's leading private economists are urging Finance Minister Jim Flaherty to tread a cautious path in his March budget and keep spending flowing in a fragile recovery.
At a meeting in Ottawa on Tuesday, the economists will suggest Mr. Flaherty look past some of the better-than-expected data in Canada and the United States and resist moving too quickly to rein in the deficit.
The economists have boosted their projections for the economy, which Mr. Flaherty uses to shape his own assessments. They now see average economic
THE PERCENT of GDP is irrelevant to the best outcome of the USA. The faster the tax base expands the more of the nation's deficit will be paid. We could literally have the deficit paid off in the Baby Boomer's lifetimes if we apply the principles correctly and return quality of life and the American Dream back to the Middle Class.
China is encouraged to spend as their 'percent' GDP is only 5%, but, the economy of China is huge compared to the USA due to the population difference.
Quite literally, if the USA draws down its spending too quickly we will witness a huge hike in unemployment when the troops come home and I am sorry, but, war is NOT an economic directive.
The USA, with our new President, will be able to spend its way out of the NEGLECT of the conservative party of the past five decades. We need to "go there" and go there quickly. I find the budgets of the Obama White House in step with its peers around the globe.
Spending in education will bring the USA into competitive ranges with others globally and we cannot afford to languish another year. Our children's futures demand cutting edge opportunity and it is high time we invested.
The more jobs and needs this nation creates the better off we are. If the conservatives of the USA are so very, very concerned about the Stimulus and the spending of the government then they need to propose legislation that will provide 'regulators' to oversee spending where ever federal dollars are distributed to be sure they are used as proposed. So far, NOTHING, I have witnessed anywhere tells me there is rampant corruption of the spending of the Stimulus, but, with such a large program there will no doubt be some.
Where spending is a 'bad idea' is when the deficit far outreaches 'an established' and fairly 'static' GDP. We have witnessed this in Argentina. But, with the potential the USA has to build an infrastructure and employ more and more people, especially now that its States are coming in line with a return of their State Legislators, spending is the venue of change and improvement. The USA DOES NOT KNOW its potential yet and to cut it off at the knees before we attain it is complete moronity.
Fiscal Conservatives are very poor judges of what is best for the country. They were the onces that sunk the economy in the first place and to trust them all over again is the worst possible sense of judgement the American people have ever shown. The American people are reacting to their own 'personal fiscal fears' when they think about what the economy on a national scale should be doing. It isn't the same and sooner or later the people of the USA are going to have to trust the President and realize he has done everything to benefit this country and assist the people to remain 'okay' in the face of a deeply troubled economy.
We have to trust and believe in our judgement of leadership at the time of the 2008 election and not the propagandized reality of a desperate Republican Party. It is okay to blame Bush and the Republicans for our troubles. They did this. They sincerely did.
Sweden bullish about prospects for growth
Published: 27 Jan 10 14:45 CETThe Swedish government released a more optimistic forecast for the economy on Wednesday, announcing it expects the country’s GDP to climb by 3.0 percent in 2010.
n its previous forecast, presented in November, the government projected that the Swedish economy would only expand by 2.0 percent this year.
According to the new forecast, however, the economy is expected to grow by 3.0 percent in 2010, 3.6 percent in 2011, and 3.2 percent in 2012.
Unemployment will also continue to rise in 2010, however, reaching 9.5 percent before dropping down to 8.9 percent in 2011 and 7.6 percent in 2012.
Meanwhile, inflation is also expected to creep up in the following years, with consumer prices inching up by 1.3 percent in 2010, 2.1 percent in 2011, and 2.7 percent in 2012, according to the government’s new forecast.
Finance minister Anders Borg admitted even he was surprised when his colleagues presented him with the new unemployment projections.
“It’s quite a strong downward revision of more than 4 percent, if you look a few years down the road,” he said at a Wednesday press conference.
“We’re going to be at a level of around 4 to 5 percent unemployment within a few years.”...
