Crawl Across the Ocean

Saturday, February 04, 2006

Debate!

Blogging Tory #1:

"Jackonomics is starting to inflict damage on the Canadian economy. Last spring when the Liberal party was doing anything to stave off a confidence vote in parliament, Jack Layton demanded the reversal of corporate taxes reductions and an increase in social spending as the price the Liberals had to pay for the NDP's parliamentary support.

Now, several months later, firms are starting to flee Ontario faster then suspected leadership candidates are fleeing the Liberal party."

Blogging Tory #2:

The time has come to honor the man who, more than any other, set into motion the policies that pulled a debt-ridden Canadian government balance sheet out of the red and set us on the road to reducing the national debt.

His policies were responsible for the sustained economic growth we've enjoyed and the historically low levels of Canadian unemployment for much of these past 12 years.

...

Alan Greenspan.


-------------------------------

So you've got that? The Liberals get no credit for anything that happened during their 12 years in power, but the recent struggles in Ontario are all Jack's fault.

I look forward to a rational debate between the various Blogging Tories about how much influence the government has over the economy. So far the consensus seems to be that M.K. and Kate are both right, a consistent position which can be characterized as: 'Right Wing Good, Left Wing Bad, nyah nyah nyah'.

posted by Declan at Saturday, February 04, 2006

4 Comments:

  • Heh.

    I agree - while Jack! is an idiot, it is tough to blame him for the BF Goodrich closing. Google "Dutch Disease or look it up in wikipedia - I think that's much more of an explanation.

    By Blogger deaner, at 10:58 PM  

  • Wait a minute: the BF Goodrich closing in Kitchener is being cited as an example of a job exodus out of Ontario? Give me a freakin' break; they should have talked with somebody like me who lives in the community.

    BF Goodrich has been on the way out for the past fifteen years, and we've been wondering what to do about the gigantic factory on Strange Street for years, now.

    Waterloo Region has a GDP higher than that of New Brunswick, and most of that is coming from high tech. In just a few short years, high tech has grown to take up 40% of our economy, and it's growing by 30% per year.

    Industrial manufacturing, particularly automobile manufacturing, is an old industry, and not one we as a country should be betting heavily on. Of course plants are closing. They'd be closing even if the government over the past twelve years had been Conservative. What's important is what we're doing to invest in high tech, biotech and nanotech.

    By Blogger James Bow, at 7:51 AM  

  • Waterloo Region has a GDP higher than that of New Brunswick, and most of that is coming from high tech. In just a few short years, high tech has grown to take up 40% of our economy, and it's growing by 30% per year.

    Okay, spot the mathematical flaw in the paragraph. Heh. 40% of the economy is coming from high tech. That's not most -- although it's not like the remaining 60% is strictly from manufacturing.

    By Blogger James Bow, at 7:53 AM  

  • Dean, James, I think between the two of you you've got the situation in Ontario covered.

    Plants are always closing here and there for purely plant-specific reasons, and at the same time, the high dollar, combined with the troubles with Ford and GM, things could get unpleasant in Ontario in the next couple of years.

    Especially if the bursting of the housing bubble (now there is something Greenspan deserves credit for!) really starts to cut into U.S consumption.

    But like you say James, the important thing is to keep developing new industries as old ones begin to struggle.

    By Blogger Declan, at 1:27 PM  

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