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Alexei Goudzenko

Higher oil price prompts increased drilling - Saskatchewan - CBC News - 0 views

www.cbc.ca/...oil-gas-drilling-forecast.html

price oil higher

shared by Alexei Goudzenko on 03 Jun 11 - No Cached
  • Higher-than-expected oil and gas drilling activity in Western Canada led the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors Wednesday to increase its forecast for the total number of wells to be drilled in 2011.
  • The forecast confirmed that more companies are drilling for oil, which has soared in price, and away from natural gas, where low price has stayed flat. Approximately 60 per cent of the wells being completed are directed at oil.
  • In the first three months of the year, exploration companies employed 68 per cent of the fleet of available rigs in western Canada, or 534 out of 788. That was 11 per cent higher than the Calgary-based CAODC's projection of 480 made last fall.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • CAODC said it expects activity over the last three quarters of 2011 to increase by 24 per cent over its October estimate, with 200 rigs to be drilling in the second quarter, up from the 160 previously anticipated.
Susan Cui

The Daily, Thursday, May 12, 2011. New Housing Price Index - 3 views

www.statcan.gc.ca/...dq110512a-eng.htm

Housing Price Index

shared by Susan Cui on 23 May 11 - No Cached
  • The New Housing Price Index (NHPI) was unchanged in March following a 0.4% advance in February.
  • Between February and March, prices rose the most in Saint John, Fredericton and Moncton (+0.4%) followed by the metropolitan regions of Toronto and Oshawa, Winnipeg and Regina (all three registering increases of 0.3%).
  • The most significant monthly price decreases were recorded in Québec (-0.7%), Windsor (-0.6%) and Edmonton (-0.2%).
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • Year over year, the NHPI was up 1.9% in March following a 2.1% increase in February.
  • The largest year-over-year increase was observed in St. John's (+6.2%), followed closely by Regina (+6.1%). Compared with March 2010, contractors' selling prices were also higher in Winnipeg (+4.5%) as well as in Toronto and Oshawa (+3.6%). Windsor (-4.6%), London (-1.7%), Greater Sudbury and Thunder Bay (-1.3%) and Victoria (-1.2%) posted 12-month declines in March.
  • Susan Cui on 23 May 11
     
    The New Housing Price Index indicates that during the month of March, there was no change in NHPI. This was because the increase of housing prices in some metropolitan regions were offset by the decrease in housing prices in other metropolitan areas. The areas with the most significant housing price increase were Saint John, Fredericton, Moncton, metropolitan regions of Toronto, Oshawa, Winnipeg and Regina. The areas with the most housing price decrease were Quebec, Windsor and Edmonton. Increase in housing prices in some metropolitan areas were due to improving market conditions and higher material, labour, land development costs. Decrease in housing prices in other metropolitan areas were due to slower market conditions and lower land costs. Comparing to last year's NHPI in March, the NHPI went up 1.9%.
Chris Li

The Progressive Economics Forum » Garbage In, Garbage Out - 4 views

www.progressive-economics.ca/...garbage-in-garbage-out

Outsourcing Garbage Collection

shared by Chris Li on 24 May 11 - No Cached
  • contract-out garbage collection for half of the City of Toronto as soon as possible as the first step to outsourcing everything we can by next year.
  • Much of the rationale for contracting-out is that private waste collection will save the city many millions of dollars.   However, these figures are based on misinformation and distorted statistics. 
  • Toronto’s costs in 2009 were $72.22 per tonne.  Costs for Mississauga and Brampton as part of the Peel regional municipality were $106.79 per tonne.  Vaughan’s costs were $168.40 per tonne.   The other regional municipalities also had higher costs: Durham at $85.74 per tonne and Halton at  $86.79 per tonne.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • costs for residents of Toronto for private waste collection will increase by at least 20% a year or more than $6 milllion per year and could be 50% or $16 million higher. 
  • From their estimates they claimed that Toronto could save $49 million per year from contracting-out all its waste collection. 
  • they used an econometric technique called “fixed effects regression” which effectively engineered the results they were looking for.  
  • “The most recent studies have found no difference in costs.  Cost savings from privatization erode over time….”.
Dmitri Tkachenko

National Bank is North Americas Strongest Bank: Bloomberg - 0 views

www.canadianmortgagetrends.com/...-strongest-bank-bloomberg.html

Canadian banks best internationally

shared by Dmitri Tkachenko on 25 May 11 - No Cached
  • Dmitri Tkachenko on 25 May 11
     
    "Canada has five banks in the top 20, with CIBC ranking 4th internationally behind National Bank. Canadian banks have "higher capital ratios than anyone else in the world," Canaccord Genuity analyst Mario Mendonca told Bloomberg. National Bank Pres. & CEO Louis Vachon told Bloomberg: "…size is not everything in financial services," and indeed it's not. National Bank's #1 North American ranking shows that prudent risk management and liquidity are meaningful and a source of confidence for investors and customers alike. Other ranking criteria included non-performing assets, loan-loss reserves, deposits-to-funding, and cost efficiency."
Dmitri Tkachenko

Surprise: Low interest rates seen sticking around - The Globe and Mail - 0 views

www.theglobeandmail.com/...article2032075

Low Interest Rates Bonds Financial Industry Inflation Stock Market

shared by Dmitri Tkachenko on 25 May 11 - No Cached
  • Dmitri Tkachenko on 25 May 11
     
    "Interest rates have recently being going somewhere unexpected: down. With the United States government bumping up against its debt ceiling, inflation ticking upward, and a growing debt crisis in Europe, most expected interest rates to be increasing.If so, it will mean pain for savers, but good news for borrowers .A drop in interest rates is equivalent to a sale on the price of money, and corporations are already rushing to take advantage of the easy lending conditions, even if they're in no immediate need of funds. Mortgage rates have fallen, too - good news for homeowners looking to refinance. But lower rates have not turned out so well for some of the market's savviest players, including Bill Gross, the founder of Pimco, the world's biggest bond fund. Earlier this year, he sold his U.S. Treasuries, because he thought interest rates were poised to rocket higher, which would drive down prices of bonds. Oil has been trading consistently around the $100-a-barrel level, thereby lifting inflation, another bond-market negative. Investors are getting nervous and growing more willing to buy super-safe government bonds."
Heshani Makalande

Home prices climb 8% despite drop in resales - Moneyville.ca - 0 views

www.moneyville.ca/...limb-8-despite-drop-in-resales

Mortgages

shared by Heshani Makalande on 28 May 11 - No Cached
  • OTTAWA—The national average home price rose by eight per cent last month even as housing sales fell by 14.7 per cent from the year before
  • National average home prices rose by eight per cent to $372,544 compared to last April — the third consecutive month in which the national average price rose by eight per cent from year ago levels, the Canadian Real Estate Association said.
  • the number of previously occupied homes sold in April fell to 17,230 from 18,745 a year ago.
  • ...9 more annotations...
  • The national average home price has been skewed upward in recent months due to a surge in sales of multi-million dollar properties in the Greater Vancouver area.
  • “Changes to mortgage regulations that took effect in April 2011 likely sidelined a number of first-time homebuyers,” said Gregory Klump, CREA’s chief economist.
  • “By contrast, higher end home sales in Greater Vancouver and Toronto had their best April ever.”
  • The drop in sales of previously occupied homes last month reflected changes to mortgage rules that came in midway through March that reduced the maximum amortization period and pulled forward some sales that would have otherwise occurred later in the year.
  • including Toronto, Vancouver and British Columbia’s Fraser Valley.
  • Government moves to tighten mortgage rules introduced last spring to reign in some buyers gave sales last year a boost, while a second round of changes introduced in March, ate into sales this April, CREA said.
  • “Last April, several transitory factors artificially boosted sales. This included the impending tightening of mortgage rules, speculation about higher interest rates and the looming introduction of the HST in some provinces,” said Klump.
  • sales were down 4.4. per cent from March of this year.
  • The number of newly listed homes edged up 1.3 per cent in April from March, but remained well below levels in January and February, when the coming mortgage rule changes were announced.
Dmitri Tkachenko

As Canadians get older, economy gets weaker - The Globe and Mail - 0 views

www.theglobeandmail.com/...article2039511

Aging Unemployment Slowing economy

shared by Dmitri Tkachenko on 30 May 11 - No Cached
  • Dmitri Tkachenko on 30 May 11
     
    "Statistics Canada projection shows a sharp decrease that will continue for at least the next 20 years. Employment growth since 1976 has averaged 1.6 per cent a year, while the population grew at a rate of 1.1 per cent. That extra half a percentage point added roughly 0.3-0.4 percentage points to the average growth rate of real per capita income above what it would have been otherwise. Not only is this source of growth about to disappear, demographic aging is going to start being a negative contributor to economic growth: fewer workers mean less output. One of the first places we'll see the effects of population aging is its effect on the government budget balance. Higher output per worker would help compensate for a reduction in the number of workers, so productivity will become an increasingly important policy priority. But in the short and medium term, there is no quick fix. "
Dmitri Tkachenko

Loonie rises as greenback slips back - The Globe and Mail - 0 views

www.theglobeandmail.com/...article2038052

Canadian currency Home buyers Income and spending

shared by Dmitri Tkachenko on 30 May 11 - No Cached
  • Dmitri Tkachenko on 30 May 11
     
    "The Canadian dollar gained 0.14 of a cent to $1.0232 (U.S.).The Canadian currency has drifted lower for the past four weeks, partly on signs of further weakness in the U.S. economy. Data from the U.S. Commerce Department, released Thursday, showed that the economy grew at a tepid annual rate of 1.8 per cent in the first quarter, lower than many economists expected. Higher prices for gasoline and weak consumer spending have held back the economy. The Labour Department also said more people applied for unemployment benefits last week. On Friday, the Commerce Department said that both personal income and spending rose 0.4 per cent in April, in line with what economists expected. But the rise in spending was the smallest in three months. Another report showed that the number of people who signed contracts to buy homes in April plunged 26.5 per cent from a year earlier."
Dmitri Tkachenko

Back in the green: CEO pay jumps 13 per cent - The Globe and Mail - 0 views

www.theglobeandmail.com/...article2039083

CEO performance unit shares high salaries

shared by Dmitri Tkachenko on 30 May 11 - No Cached
  • Dmitri Tkachenko on 30 May 11
     
    "The economic downturn in 2008 and 2009 was a distant memory by 2010 for Canada's top chief executive officers, at least as far as their pay packages were concerned. A Globe and Mail review of executive pay last year shows CEOs at Canada's 100 largest companies saw their compensation jump 13 per cent last year, led higher by a 20-per-cent increase in annual cash bonuses. Base salaries climbed 4 per cent. Instead, many gains for CEOs came from better economic performance by companies, which boosted variable elements of pay like cash bonuses. They can also be worthless. If the company performs in the bottom quarter of the peer group, and earns a negative return over three years, none of the share units vest for the executives. "
Alexei Goudzenko

Japan's Tea Industry Facing Shortage as Nuclear Radiation Taints Shipments - Bloomberg - 0 views

www.bloomberg.com/...adiation-taints-shipments.html

japan's tea industry

shared by Alexei Goudzenko on 03 Jun 11 - No Cached
  • Japan may face a shortage of green tea as radiation leaking from the crippled Fukushima Dai-Ichi power station tainted leaves, spurring the government to restrict shipments from four prefectures.
  • The government decided yesterday to curb shipments of dried tea leaves containing more than 500 becquerel per kilogram of radioactive cesium and ordered a halt in shipments from the eastern prefectures of Ibaraki, Chiba, Kanagawa and Tochigi where tainted produce was detected. Japan’s tea production, including fresh and dried leaves, was worth 102.1 billion yen ($1.3 billion) in 2009, according to the agriculture ministry.
  • The decision came after Shizuoka prefecture, Japan’s largest growing region representing about 40 percent of total output, declared its green tea was safe. Governor Heita Kawakatsu said last month tests on fresh leaves and drinks showed they contained cesium amounts well below the government levels. Still, cesium levels in dried leaves could be about five times higher than fresh leaves, said Yasuo Sasaki, senior press counselor at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • “The new regulation may spur shipment restrictions from Shizuoka prefecture, slashing supplies and boosting prices of green teas,” Sasaki said today in a telephone interview. “Higher prices could spur consumers to shift from green tea to cheaper alternatives such as barley tea or oolong tea.”
  • Drink makers such as Ito En Ltd. (2593) purchase Japanese green tea as a raw material. The company’s shares lost 2.6 percent to 1,370 yen today on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Alejandro Enamorado

Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1% | Society | Vanity Fair - 0 views

www.vanityfair.com/...top-one-percent-201105

economics inequality USA stiglitz

shared by Alejandro Enamorado on 03 Jun 11 - No Cached
  • In terms of wealth rather than income, the top 1 percent control 40 percent. Their lot in life has improved considerably. Twenty-five years ago, the corresponding figures were 12 percent and 33 percent.
  • While the top 1 percent have seen their incomes rise 18 percent over the past decade, those in the middle have actually seen their incomes fall. For men with only high-school degrees, the decline has been precipitous—12 percent in the last quarter-century alone.
  • The justification they came up with was called “marginal-productivity theory.” In a nutshell, this theory associated higher incomes with higher productivity and a greater contribution to society.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • The most obvious example involves tax policy. Lowering tax rates on capital gains, which is how the rich receive a large portion of their income, has given the wealthiest Americans close to a free ride.
  • Imagine what the world might look like if the rules were designed instead to encourage competition among countries for workers. Governments would compete in providing economic security, low taxes on ordinary wage earners, good education, and a clean environment—things workers care about.
Carolyne Wang

Is income inequality just business as usual? - The Globe and Mail - 0 views

www.theglobeandmail.com/...singlepage

Income Inequality Historical Trends Cultural Attitudes toward Income

shared by Carolyne Wang on 02 Jun 11 - No Cached
    • Carolyne Wang
      Carolyne Wang on 02 Jun 11
       
      The visuals in this link show the distribution of wealth among the highest income earners in Canada.
  • international statistics show that poverty rates are lowest where income inequality is lowest too. That can be because of culture -- the wage spectrum is compressed, as in Japan, where it is unseemly to get too far ahead of others in pay -- or through active redistribution programs, where taxes and the services they buy redistribute incomes and opportunities to try to level the playing field a bit more.
  • For most of the 20th century inequality in Canada - and in virtually all developed nations, actually - had been declining. By the 1980s that long term trend reversed. First because of recessions (where the bottom end of the spectrum lost ground) then because of rowth (when the top part of the income spectrum zoomed ahead). So for the past generation inequality has grown in Canada, in good times and bad.
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • There are two reasons for hope. One is, oddly, the result of an aging population and the consequent shrinking pool of workers, which may push up wages for workers producing basic goods and services, not just those at the top of the skill spectrum. The other is a culture shift, where a growing number of boomers understand what is at play and start working with others to come up with ways to ensure there will be a resilient middle class for the next generation.
  • When the cost of something goes up, we tend to consume less of it. So, since living wages are higher than minimum wages, employers are likely to hire fewer workers. A living wage campaign is part of the effort to raise the visibility of a sorry development in Canada. The saying that "the best social policy is a job" is in many ways true; but a new reality has developed over the past decade or so - that you can't necessarily escape poverty by working. Working full-time full-year at a minimum wage job, as many adults do, condems you to poverty.
  • Professor Richard Wilkinson just finished a tour of Canada, discussing his research findings from the past 30 years or so. A social epidemiologist, he has gathered international data showing the very tight correlation between life expectancy and income inequality, between literacy and income inequality, between rates of incarceration and income inequality, etc. etc. Over and over again he shows a range of issues that have a strong social gradient which reveal that almost everybody is better off in a society with greater income equality, including the rich. You can see his presentation in Vancouver at this link. http://i.sfu.ca/TmyYCh
  • The Mincome experiment in Manitoba in the mid 1970s, the MacDonald Commission i n the mid 1980s, and the House Report from Newfoundland and Labrador in the early 1990s all had proposals for providing a basic income. Only Manitoba tried it, as a pilot project, for a few years. The problem with the guaranteed income idea is at what rate you set it, and at what rate you tax it back. It could remove the stigma of income support programs, but it could just as easily be a costly experiment that, essentially, guarantees poverty. Also, as Dr. Wilkinson has suggested, at some point on the GDP per capita curve, income inequality is no longer about material deprivation, but rather one of psycho-social responses. We are, after all, pack animals.
  • We can redress some of the vagaries of the market through public policies, but the root cause of growing inequality is how different peoples' work is valued. IN a slow growth environment, which seems to be the foreseeable future for Canada, it will become harder and harder for those at the top of corporate structures to take the types of increases they have been commanding in the marketplace and expect unionized workers to be happy about losing their pension, benefits and wage increases, and expect low-end workers to essentially stay put or lose more ground. Two things can happen - those at the top start moderating their increases; or those in the middle and the bottom start seeing solid increases, particularly as the wave of retirements starts accelerating. The problem with rising incomes, generally, is that usually goes along with rising prices; and we're about to host the largest cohort of retirees we've ever had in history, a group that lives on fixed and low incomes, to whom rising prices are toxic. So how will the highest priced workers get away witih demanding more in that context I wonder?
  • Historically, increasing economic growth first deliver rising inequality, then lowering inequality (Simon Kuznets' famous work back in the 1950s). That's still true of developing nations - economic growth is first badly distributed, then leads to demands for greater equality.
  • We can raise our kids more equitably - but it will take more taxes. We can have less of a winner take all society - but it will require some people at the top to trim their expectations. We can beat this in small ways, but we also need leaders to express the way forward. In the US they have Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and politicians leading the way. We're waiting for more people like Ed Clarke, the CEO of TD Bank, to weigh in on how to make Canada fairer (his suggestion is higher taxes on the rich).
Steven Iarusci

Ottawa resale market to cool in 2011; sales to fall 8%: CMHC - Residential - Real Estat... - 0 views

www.obj.ca/...1

demand supply housing mortgage

shared by Steven Iarusci on 02 Jun 11 - No Cached
  • local sales of existing homes listed on the Multiple Listing Service are anticipated to fall to an estimated 13,750 units from 14,923 in 2010, a 7.9-per-cent drop, before picking up again to approximately 14,100 units in 2012.
  • Higher anticipated mortgage rates have resulted in a pull-forward effect on housing demand
  • sales were higher in late 2010 and early 2011 as buyers rushed to avoid rising interest rates and new mortgage rule changes
  • ...13 more annotations...
  • still at historic lows, moderate raises in mortgage rates will impact carrying costs negatively, thus slightly subduing housing demand
  • Average resale prices are expected to rise by a brisk 11.5 per cent to $340,000 this year, but the growth rate will slow significantly in 2012, to 2.9 per cent
  • that segment falling 20.1 per cent to 1,975 units
  • 5,950 total housing starts forecast for 2011, up 2.3 per cent from the previous year
  • single-detached market is anticipated to be the hardest-hit
  • New home construction is also expected to cool down this year
  • result of an ongoing shift towards more affordable housing types
  • first-time homebuyers and downsizing empty-nesters at the forefront of Ottawa's housing market
  • raising the popularity of more affordable housing types such as condominium apartments, townhouses and semi-detached homes
  • soaring gas prices and lengthening commute times will push up interest in homes in the core
  • Elsewhere in the country
  • MLS sales, meanwhile, are expected to be between 429,500 and 480,000 units, with 2012 sales anticipated to be in the range of 410,000 to 511,900 units
  • slowdown affecting both single-detached homes and multi-family housing
  • Steven Iarusci on 02 Jun 11
     
    A few numbers pertaining to supply of housing in the Ottawa market. Talks a little of why demand is changing in the market.
Ilia Merkoulovitch

Government can't balance books by 2014: watchdog - thestar.com - 1 views

www.thestar.com/...balance-books-by-2014-watchdog

Defecit debt economic growth

shared by Ilia Merkoulovitch on 01 Jun 11 - No Cached
  • The Conservatives, who are running a $30-billion deficit this year, said in the March 22 budget that they could erase the deficit by 2015.
  • The likelihood of realizing budgetary balance or better in 2014-15 is approximately 20 per cent and approximately 35 per cent in 2015-16
  • The parliamentary budget office forecasts annual budget deficits between now and 2015 totalling $128 billion
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • Unemployment, now at 7.6 per cent, will remain considerably higher between now and 2015
  • Sluggish U.S. growth combined with the Canadian dollar remaining above parity will subdue near-term growth in the Canadian economy and restrain the decline in the unemployment rate.”
  • Ilia Merkoulovitch on 01 Jun 11
     
    Government won't be able to get rid of deficit by 2015 as planned
Susan Cui

Canadian house prices continue to rise, although April sales down - 6 views

www.montrealgazette.com/...story.html

Housing Price Falling sales Rising Prices

shared by Susan Cui on 23 May 11 - No Cached
  • Canadian home prices continued their upward march in April, driven by strong investor demand in Vancouver, while cracks in the Toronto condominium market may be starting to appear.
  • The Canadian Real Estate Association said Tuesday the average price of a home sold in April across the country was $372,544, up eight per cent from a year ago.
  • but the Ottawa-based group cautioned that the figure was skewed due to "surging multimillion dollar property sales in selected areas of Greater Vancouver."
  • ...13 more annotations...
  • slow April sales figures
  • saw activity dip 4.4 per cent from March
  • The slow sales are said to have been driven by new mortgage rules which came into affect April 19 and made it tougher to borrow.
  • Changes to mortgage regulations that took effect in April 2011 likely sidelined a number of first-time homebuyers. By contrast, higher end homes sales in Greater Vancouver and Toronto had their best April ever.
  • more than 50 per cent of condominiums sold in the past year were purchased by buyers who do not intend to occupy their units and plan to rent in many instances.
  • People are buying these for capital appreciation.
  • Don Lawby, chief executive of Century 21 Canada, says the housing market has been affected by foreign investors who have reacted to tougher tax rules in their home country by investing abroad.
  • They are not afraid to offer above price and they are not afraid to get into a bidding war
  • Nevertheless, Lawby says
  • these investors
  • are small and the impact on the larger market minimal.
  • while April numbers present a market with falling sales and rising prices,
  • market conditions were exaggerated by some one-time issues.
Peter Shishkov

Food, oil prices hit US economy - 0 views

www.peopleforum.cn/redirect.php

USA Commodity Prices

shared by Peter Shishkov on 01 Jun 11 - No Cached
  • Peter Shishkov on 01 Jun 11
     
    Economists have cut forecasts for economic growth in the second quarter following the dismal 1.8 percent pace in the first, with indicators of industrial production, consumer spending and unemployment all appearing soft. Economists said they still foresee a stronger second half, as consumers and businesses adjust to the higher oil price Ian Shepherdson, U.S. economist for High Frequency Economics, said the sharp rise in the price of oil has helped stifle job creation. "The trend in claims has nudged up a bit as companies have responded to the rise in oil prices," he said.
dani tav

Wonkbook: Debt limit vote, part I - Ezra Klein - The Washington Post - 1 views

www.washingtonpost.com/...AGKSoMFH_blog.html

Government Spending Budget Cuts debt Housing Price

shared by dani tav on 31 May 11 - No Cached
  • a proposal Tuesday that would increase the nation’s ability to borrow money without also making major cuts in federal spending
  • initial request that the nation’s $14.3 trillion debt ceiling be lifted without any accompanying spending reductions
  • politically impossible.
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • o get my vote on the debt ceiling..Medicare will be a part of it
  • argued against using $80 billion in taxpayer dollars to try to save General Motors Co., Chrysler and many of their suppliers."
  • economists largely predicted the U.S. recovery would ramp back up as short-term disruptions such as higher gas prices, bad weather and supply problems in Japan subsided
  • he ownership rate is now back to the level of 1998, and some housing experts say it could decline to the level of the 1980s or even earlier
  • Cutting tax breaks for retirement won't raise a lot of money;
  • economy
  • medical school free
Heshani Makalande

Housing affordability getting worse, RBC says - Moneyville.ca - 1 views

www.moneyville.ca/...ability-getting-worse-rbc-says

Mortgage debt

shared by Heshani Makalande on 28 May 11 - No Cached
  • Despite two quarters of increasing affordability thanks to lower mortgage rates in the second half of 2010, housing affordability will remain an issue for Canadians in 2011, said a report by RBC Economics released Friday.
  • “We believe we have now entered a period of steady increases in homeownership costs, which will act to restrain growth in homebuyer demand in Canada for the quarters to come,”
  • Declining mortgage rates mean that the second half of 2010 showed improving affordability. The first quarter of 2011 saw mortgage rates remain flat, but house prices started to accelerate upward across Canada
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • In the key Toronto market, housing affordability measures rose by 0.8 per cent for a 1,200 square foot detached bungalow in the first quarter.
  • It now takes 47.5 per cent of household income to service the cost of mortgage payments, property taxes and utilities.
  • The average price of a bungalow in Toronto was $486,900 and the qualifying income needed to purchase was $103,000. But that is light years away from the Vancouver market, where an average 1,200 square foot bungalow is $736,000 with a qualifying income needed of $136,900.
  • Affordability levels are expected to get worse as interest rates get higher this year, said RBC, warning that Vancouver may be “dangerously disconnected from prevailing local housing demand fundamentals.
  • “The risk of a sustained and widespread drop will be limited given our expectation of a positive economic context that will sustain growth in household income and a gradual pace of interest rate policy normalization,” said Hogue. In Ontario, the market looks to be on a “sustainable path” although it is likely to face headwinds in the coming months arising from interest rate increases and a tightening in mortgage regulations, said RBC.
Kevin Yeo

Can Made in USA survive in a global economy? Should it? - USATODAY.com - 1 views

www.usatoday.com/...-29-cnbc-made-in-america_n.htm

Outsourcing Global Economy

shared by Kevin Yeo on 03 Jun 11 - No Cached
  • Perry also said that, at $2.155 trillion, total U.S. manufacturing output is 45% higher than China's. Despite the increase in output, however, the number of jobs in the U.S. manufacturing sector is down more than 7 million since the late 1970s.
  • But when asked if large corporations have a responsibility during these tough economic times to buy American to create more American jobs, his answer was clear: No.
  • Some have argued the "Made in USA" label is too exclusive and can actually hurt the economy by discouraging consumers from buying goods that are not completely made within US borders, but which benefit the country by creating jobs or promoting innovation.
Kevin Yeo

Canada should match U.S. exemptions for cross-border travellers - The Globe and Mail - 1 views

www.theglobeandmail.com/...article2033327

Trade Border US Canada Exemptions

shared by Kevin Yeo on 03 Jun 11 - No Cached
  • We have learned this month that the Canadian government is resisting efforts by the United States to increase exemptions for cross-border travellers in both countries. We believe this is a mistake. Canada’s interests are generally better served by lower trade barriers with the United States.
  • First, under NAFTA, most products manufactured in the United States or Mexico are not subject to Canadian duties. Therefore, the duties collected are on the small fraction of goods manufactured overseas. Indeed, a 2007 Senate report noted that customs revenues amounted to just $95-million annually – just 0.04 per cent of federal revenues.
  • Cross-border purchases pressure Canadian retailers to be more competitive and provide better, cheaper services to Canadian shoppers.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • we must recognize that public policy should be designed to benefit all Canadians, rather than a few large retailers. The currencies of resource exporters such as Australia, Canada and Brazil have appreciated sharply in recent years. We should all enjoy the higher standard of living the strong dollar entails, rather than allowing retailers to monopolize these benefits.
  • Therefore, we must embrace, rather than reject, the economic forces that drive the new U.S. thinking on this issue. Matching the $1,000 exemption would help Canadians realize greater gains from trade, while allowing CBSA to focus on its core mission.
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