Quote:
Originally Posted by aceventura3
In part you argue in support of my point, if you are saying Canada's government did less to micromanage its economic slow down compared to the US and Canada's economic slow down was less severe. I am not arguing that given current conditions, government spending and deficits in the US, that the US will be a world leading economy in the future. Given Canada's mortgage market, Canada exercised greater discipline than the US. However, most US banks remained healthy during the "melt down" and would have done o.k., government action made matters worse and spread the problem of excessive risk from unhealthy institutions to healthy ones, and the government allowed situations like Goldman Sachs to get paid 100% on the dollar making record profits from the bailout of AIG on the back of the tax payer.
|
My ultimate point is that Canada's financial sector is far more regulated than the U.S. sector (though I think that's changing on the part of the U.S.), and that was what added the stability. Who's to say what would have happened to U.S. banking had the government not stepped in. Either way, it would have been disastrous, if you ask me.
Quote:
Let's slow down a moment.
Canada's primary industries are in minerals, natural gas, oil, and other natural resources. During the global slow down, many of Canada's major industries where getting historically high prices for commodities. During the past 10 years Canada's economy has grew, but with an increased dependence on China's economic growth.
I think the above may be a bigger factor than anything else for Canada.
|
You've misjudged and possibly underestimated our economy. Less than 10% of our GDP is derived from natural resources, and only 30% of our GDP is based on exporting. Keep in mind that over 70% of our exports go to the U.S.
Throughout the 19th and much of the 20th century, we were famous for being "hewers of timber and drawers of water," but the shift to an information economy has made that vision of us rather obsolete.
Canada's economy is far more diversified that you make it out to be.
Quote:
|
I hope Canada manages the current opportunity as you describe. Given the resources in Canada, the country can move up the ladder of world economic rankings, not that the current rank is bad, I believe it in the top 10 currently.
|
I've hinted here and elsewhere that Canada's financial sector is poised to take much of the spotlight. Our overall services sector is sitting at around 70% of the economy, and the lion's share is in the financial sector. Over 20% of our GDP is derived from financial services. Just to give you an idea, four Canadian banks are amongst the top 10 banks in North America.