Canadian Economy

[Haligonian]

Originally Posted by oceanmdx

You have been able to buy cars from the US for a very long time... what do you think the Auto Pact was all about? It was essentially free trade in autos between the US and Canada... it dates back to 1965!

In order to understand the development of provinces today you have to look back many decades. We are just now moving out of the phase where the sort of heavy industry set up in the 1960's and earlier was the dominant part of the economy. The reality is that, in the past, the deck was stacked against some parts of Canada, and those effects are still felt today.

It agree with TB... You talk to anyone who became very successful, and they all will admit that they had some good luck in life... but they all had to work very hard to achieve that success.... even though some think they were just lucky... I think they are just jealous.

It's obviously false that everybody has to work hard to be successful. Some people win the lottery. Some are born millionaires. All that aside, luck vs. hard work is a false dilemma. We can instead say that individuals have a certain probability of success. Ideally, in reasonable places, hard work increases that probability. In Alberta it does for a typical person. In a poor slum in Africa that's less true, because the opportunities just aren't there, and because many people are victims of disease or crime. We can also consider, say, China, where many people work much longer hours at harder jobs than Albertans but receive less pay. Conversely, many Albertans have pretty good jobs but didn't do anything spectacular for them.

Rural Newfoundland in the 1990's is a sort of middling case of very meagre opportunity. In order to be successful in that situation, one almost certainly would have to move farther than any Albertan would have had to in order to find a reasonable job. Most Newfoundlanders who found themselves in that situation actually did move, and a huge number ended up in Alberta. Today we call these people resourceful, hard-working Albertans -- this is a bias that most Canadians don't even think about!

Hopefully in the future Canadians will have a more balanced view of the different parts of the country that is more nuanced than the have vs. have-not narrative of the last few decades.

[oceanmdx]

A homeless person laying out on the sidewalk on East Hastings in Vancouver doesn't become "successful" when they win the lottery and become rich. At least that's not my concept of success.

I lived and worked in rural Nfld. in 1979-1980, and I was very successful... most of those living there with any gumption headed for Ontario or Alberta as fast as their car would go... I eventually followed them... not because I had to, but because I couldn't stand the income taxes and the weather.... that migration of hard-working people was one reason why the workforce of Ontario and Alberta was vastly superior to that of Nfld.... sorry, but that's a fact.

[Taller, Better]

Originally Posted by Haligonian

This sort of slanted analogy is part of the reason for the friction between different parts of Canada.

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Originally Posted by Haligonian

Hopefully in the future Canadians will have a more balanced view of the different parts of the country that is more nuanced than the have vs. have-not narrative of the last few decades.

and hopefully in the future a goodly number of Canadians will be able to get the chip off their shoulder, and move into the 21st Century. I doubt if there is another country in the Western world that has become so regionally fractious, with so many rather vindictive grudges. Perhaps if everyone feels so hard done by, everywhere, the best thing might be to just dissolve the Confederation and let the provinces all go their own way to become little third world fiefdoms. Then no one will have anyone to blame except... well, I suppose their neighbours.

[spearhead]

2011-2012 Economic Outlook:
Canada’s Economic Engine Is
Chugging Along but Not at Full Steam
http://www.chamber.ca/images/uploads...tlook_2011.pdf

In 2012, the economy is forecasted to grow about 2.7 per cent, reflecting somewhat stronger domestic fundamentals and better growth prospects in the United States, Canada’s principal export market.

[duff+eglin]

The thought is appreciated, but you do realize that was published in December 2010, right?

Originally Posted by spearhead

2011-2012 Economic Outlook:
Canada’s Economic Engine Is
Chugging Along but Not at Full Steam
http://www.chamber.ca/images/uploads...tlook_2011.pdf

In 2012, the economy is forecasted to grow about 2.7 per cent, reflecting somewhat stronger domestic fundamentals and better growth prospects in the United States, Canada’s principal export market.

Here is a link to The Economist's weekly survey which, I believe, includes two Canadian based banks:

http://www.economist.com/node/21552611