[Canada] Canadian Politics Redux

[crazy canuck]

I applaud the Feds for taking this action.  Silly of the Americans not to waive the buy American legislation for something being built in Canada but increasingly par for the course I guess.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/feds-to-invoke-rarely-used-law-in-buy-america-row-with-alaska/article22517328/

[Josephus]

Nice that we stood up to them on this

[Barrister]

So the Bank of Canada cuts interest rates to 0.75%, stating that "The drop in oil prices is unambiguously negative for the Canadian economy".

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/bank-of-canada-shocks-markets-with-cut-in-key-interest-rate-1.2921370

Thoughts?

[viper37]

On the one hand, lower interest rates will stimulate investments, if banks follow through by lowering their prime rates.

On the other hand, we just sacrificed our dollar to protect exporters, wich means that every piece of technology we acquire will be more expensive, negating the effects of the lower interest rates.

[crazy canuck]

On the one hand, lower interest rates will stimulate investments, if banks follow through by lowering their prime rates.

On the other hand, we just sacrificed our dollar to protect exporters, wich means that every piece of technology we acquire will be more expensive, negating the effects of the lower interest rates.

Meh, most of our economy is based on exports.  The effect of the high Canadian dollar on the economy was masked by high oil prices.  Now that those prices have dropped - and the dollar with it - the rest of the export economy will have a chance to recover.

[viper37]

On the one hand, lower interest rates will stimulate investments, if banks follow through by lowering their prime rates.

On the other hand, we just sacrificed our dollar to protect exporters, wich means that every piece of technology we acquire will be more expensive, negating the effects of the lower interest rates.

Meh, most of our economy is based on exports.  The effect of the high Canadian dollar on the economy was masked by high oil prices.  Now that those prices have dropped - and the dollar with it - the rest of the export economy will have a chance to recover.

to produce these exports we need to import technology.  We have raw materials, but not much in finished products.

The price of vehicles, small&big will go up.  The price of computers will go up.  The price of most industrial piece of equipment will go up.
But raw materials providers, like softwood lumber producers will make a killing.  And apparently it's a good thing that we provide all kinds of benefits to non productive industries that prefer to increase their divident payouts when the sky is clear rather than try to modernize themselves.

[crazy canuck]

Nice that we stood up to them on this

And now Alaska has backed down completely.  Which is a bit surprising.  Rather than attempt to obtain an exemption from the US Federal Government they are cancelling their construction project.  I guess the politics of attempting to obtain the waiver to use Canadian suppliers for a project being built on Canadian soil is too controversial for the Alaskan politicians.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/alaska-puts-canada-ferry-terminal-in-buy-america-dispute-on-hold/article22571665/

[garbon]

Canada - a land where something like that is newsworthy and topical.

[Grey Fox]

USA - a land where a snowstorm completely takes over News channels.

[garbon]

Actually my staff in Montreal said yesterday that they hoped the storm wasn't as bad as it seemed as it even seemed big by Canadian standards.

[viper37]

Actually my staff in Montreal said yesterday that they hoped the storm wasn't as bad as it seemed as it even seemed big by Canadian standards.

Parliament is not in session, no snow storm coming here, so our newschannels tune in to CNN & Fox to see what's going on down south, see if there'll be something noteworthy.  Since all you talk about is the snow, they figured it's got to be important

[crazy canuck]

Canada - a land where something like that is newsworthy and topical.

Foreign governments trying to force US contractors to use the foreign countries Steel for projects built on US soil wouldn't be news in the US? 

[garbon]

Maybe on snoozeday. Also, I like how you replaced Canada with "Foreign" to make it sound more alarming.

[crazy canuck]

Maybe on snoozeday. Also, I like how you replaced Canada with "Foreign" to make it sound more alarming.

I did not intent to suggest that Canada would do such a thing.  I used the word "foreign" because I could not think of another foreign entity that would try to do something so daft.  And so it remains an entirely hypothetical question.

[garbon]

Ah I see, you were posing back hypothetical of what happened to Canada. At any rate, I stand by (unless it became some sort of political/election scandal) that no it would be big news in the US. I guess maybe local news for whatever state was involved.