Comments on: More Bizarreness from the Liberal party http://www.thepolitic.com/archives/2007/08/30/more-bizarreness-from-the-liberal-party/ Conservative group weblog that publishes daily commentary on political events and topics affecting Canada, the United States and the world. Sun, 23 Nov 2008 14:25:10 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc By: zoop http://www.thepolitic.com/archives/2007/08/30/more-bizarreness-from-the-liberal-party/#comment-168128 zoop Wed, 12 Sep 2007 04:39:56 +0000 http://www.thepolitic.com/archives/2007/08/30/more-bizarreness-from-the-liberal-party/#comment-168128 Harper warned against being complacent regarding the economy in his speech to the Australian Parliament today. http://canuckpolitics.com/2007/09/11/harper-addresses-australian-parliament/ Almost sounds like he is expecting a downturn ... Harper warned against being complacent regarding the economy in his speech to the Australian Parliament today.

http://canuckpolitics.com/2007.....arliament/

Almost sounds like he is expecting a downturn …

]]> By: Sick of Tory Ranting http://www.thepolitic.com/archives/2007/08/30/more-bizarreness-from-the-liberal-party/#comment-167718 Sick of Tory Ranting Tue, 04 Sep 2007 00:03:53 +0000 http://www.thepolitic.com/archives/2007/08/30/more-bizarreness-from-the-liberal-party/#comment-167718 Actually, I think the Liberal campaign makes some sense. Sure, at the aggregate level, Canada's economy is doing well. But the booming economy in the West masks the weakness in the manufacturing centre. Ask autoworkers in Oshawa or Windsor how the economy is doing: you'll get very different answers than you get from the petroleum engineer in Calgary. The next election will be won or lost in Ontario and Quebec, where a high dollar is hurting manufacturing. So, a Liberal focus on the issue is a logical one. Actually, I think the Liberal campaign makes some sense. Sure, at the aggregate level, Canada’s economy is doing well. But the booming economy in the West masks the weakness in the manufacturing centre. Ask autoworkers in Oshawa or Windsor how the economy is doing: you’ll get very different answers than you get from the petroleum engineer in Calgary. The next election will be won or lost in Ontario and Quebec, where a high dollar is hurting manufacturing. So, a Liberal focus on the issue is a logical one.

]]> By: Bruce Stewart http://www.thepolitic.com/archives/2007/08/30/more-bizarreness-from-the-liberal-party/#comment-167563 Bruce Stewart Fri, 31 Aug 2007 05:08:44 +0000 http://www.thepolitic.com/archives/2007/08/30/more-bizarreness-from-the-liberal-party/#comment-167563 I'm always amazed at the ease with which we accept "good economic performance" from the Liberals. After all, here's a party which sent our dollar down to USD 0.625, partly from inaction and partly because no work was required if Canadian executives could make their numbers simply off the exchange rate. (And an amazing number of those CEOs were solicited by the Liberal Party to come to hear the Prime Minister, or the Finance Minister, and put down $1,000 a plate to do so - I know, I was one of them who was asked, as was every other CEO I knew in Vancouver during the early 2000s.) The dollar did not move back up because Canada was doing all that well but because the US economy under the Bush Administration and the Greenspan 1% slack regime was (and is) inflationary as hell and deeply in deficit. The US dollar has been collapsing; the Canadian dollar has moved up relative to the US one. Only with oil price movement did we gain anything against other currencies during this period. So I'd say the Liberals didn't do anywhere near as well as everyone seems to think. Downloading to the provinces, stripping back on transfers - yes, that they did. And it was the first step of a fix Ottawa needed. Unfortunately, using the cash machine that surpluses created to send money hither and yon without Parliamentary approval and without discipline was the result. Again, not very good management, if you ask me. Of course, even a blind squirrel can find a nut once in a while. Martin, 1995. I’m always amazed at the ease with which we accept “good economic performance” from the Liberals.

After all, here’s a party which sent our dollar down to USD 0.625, partly from inaction and partly because no work was required if Canadian executives could make their numbers simply off the exchange rate. (And an amazing number of those CEOs were solicited by the Liberal Party to come to hear the Prime Minister, or the Finance Minister, and put down $1,000 a plate to do so - I know, I was one of them who was asked, as was every other CEO I knew in Vancouver during the early 2000s.)

The dollar did not move back up because Canada was doing all that well but because the US economy under the Bush Administration and the Greenspan 1% slack regime was (and is) inflationary as hell and deeply in deficit. The US dollar has been collapsing; the Canadian dollar has moved up relative to the US one. Only with oil price movement did we gain anything against other currencies during this period.

So I’d say the Liberals didn’t do anywhere near as well as everyone seems to think.

Downloading to the provinces, stripping back on transfers - yes, that they did. And it was the first step of a fix Ottawa needed. Unfortunately, using the cash machine that surpluses created to send money hither and yon without Parliamentary approval and without discipline was the result. Again, not very good management, if you ask me.

Of course, even a blind squirrel can find a nut once in a while. Martin, 1995.

]]>