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Carolyne Wang

Inequality Rising Across the Developed World - NYTimes.com - 0 views

economix.blogs.nytimes.com/...ing-across-the-developed-world

Income Inequality OECD Gini Coefficient Globalization

shared by Carolyne Wang on 02 Jun 11 - No Cached
  • A new report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development finds that most of its member countries have seen their richest citizens get much, much richer in the last few decades, leading to a widening income gap.
    • Carolyne Wang
      Carolyne Wang on 02 Jun 11
       
      This graph shows that the Gini coefficients of most countries have increased, indicating increasing income inequality in the world as the value of the Gini coefficient approaches 1, which represents perfect income inequality.
  • Changes in capital income — which primarily affects wealthier people — have contributed to rising inequality, although the impact has been relatively modest when compared to changes in labor income
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • As lower-paid workers have seen their incomes stagnate or even fall, the highest-paid workers have gotten steep raises.
    • Carolyne Wang
      Carolyne Wang on 02 Jun 11
       
      In this graph, you can see that there is a greater reduction in the number of hours worked by low income earners compared to the hours worked by high income earners. Fewer work hours combined with low wages leads to lower incomes for the poor and widens the divide between the rich and the poor.
  • Globalization has had an impact, as rich countries have been sending more of their commodifiable, generally less-skilled jobs offshore, which has displaced many lower-paid workers in rich countries.
  • Besides outright layoffs, there have also been cuts in work hours (sometimes voluntary, sometimes not), disproportionately affecting lower-paid employees:
  • Today, across developed countries, the average income of the richest 10 percent of the population is about nine times that of the poorest 10 percent, with much bigger multiples in Israel, Turkey, the United States, Chile and Mexico. In these last two countries, the income ratio is 27 to 1.
  • Technological improvements have also disproportionately benefited the pay of high-skilled workers. Regulatory changes, like loosening protections for temporary (and less-skilled) workers and lower unemployment benefits, may have also had an effect.
  • Over the years people have become more and more likely to marry mates who have similar incomes. “Today, 40 percent of couples in which both partners work belong to the same or neighboring earnings deciles, compared with 33 percent some 20 years ago,” the report says.
  • Surely to some extent this has to do with more women having earnings, period, and therefore having more women’s earning matching what their husbands make. But in any case if poor marry poor and rich marry rich, that magnifies the income gap effect. After all, if poor married rich, the result would be more evenly distributed wealth.
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."
Noah Schafer

Federal deficit could be lower than expected - CTV News - 0 views

www.ctv.ca/...updated-deficit-110527

debt Canada jobs deficit operations stimulus

shared by Noah Schafer on 05 Jun 11 - No Cached
  • The federal deficit for the year just finished will come in lower than the $40.5 billion predicted in March's budget, Ottawa says.
  • The assessment about the deficit is contained in the Finance Department's monthly update of the government's books, which sets the preliminary standing on the deficit at $34.4 billion for the fiscal year 2010-11.
  • the department is careful to caution that the figure is preliminary and will likely rise after end-of-year adjustments on tax returns and valuation adjustments for assets and liabilities are done in the fall.
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • Ottawa set a record $55.6 billion deficit in 2009-10, when the recession hit hardest, but has improved that position by between $15 and $20 billion in one year.
  • "However, based on the results to date, the final 2010-11 deficit is expected to be lower than the $40.5 billion as projected in the March 22 budget."
  • History has shown those adjustments can amount to billions of dollars in additional expenditures.
  • During the election campaign, the Conservatives pledged they would balance the budget in four years -- one year earlier than planned -- by finding an additional $4 billion in savings from operations.
  • The department said $17 billion, or about half, of last year's deficit was due the stimulus package.
  • In April, the International Monetary Fund pegged Canada's combined federal-provincial fiscal deficit at 4.1 per cent of gross domestic product, lower than the U.S. (10.5 per cent) and the United Kingdom (8.1 per cent).
Carolyne Wang

Economist's View: Why Does Inequality Matter? - 0 views

economistsview.typepad.com/...hy-does-inequality-matter.html

Income Inequality Tax Income Redistribution

shared by Carolyne Wang on 02 Jun 11 - No Cached
  • We know that a society with perfect equality does not grow at the fastest possible rate. When everyone gets an equal share of income, people lose the incentive to try and get ahead of others.
  • We also know that a society where one person has almost everything while everyone else struggles to survive—the most unequal distribution of income imaginable—will not grow at the fastest possible rate either. Thus, the growth-maximising level of inequality must lie somewhere between these two extremes
  • As Lane Kenworthy notes, when we look at how inequality has changed in various rich nations over the last several decades, "it turns out that there is no relationship between changes in income inequality and changes in the absolute incomes of low-end households. The reason is that income growth for poor households has come almost entirely via increases in net government transfers." Thus, nations where lower income households have fared better are also the nations where income transfers have been the highest.
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • One hope for turning this around in the future is education
  • Unfortunately, we won't know the answer until we actually improve education, then wait to see how our better educated young fare when they graduate, a process that will take decades. It will do little to alleviate existing levels of inequality.
  • redistribution of income is the only answer to our inequality problem
  • But won't such policies lower economic growth? No. Given the present, elevated level of inequality, a reduction is unlikely to have much of an impact on incentives that are important for economic growth.
  • If we want to preserve a growing and socially healthy economy, and avoid moving to points on the inequality curve curve associated with lower growth, then we will need to do much more redistribution of income than we have done over the last several decades. That means the wealthy will no longer get it all, or at least almost all; they will be asked to share economic growth with the workers who helped to bring it about, workers who ought to be rewarded for their growing productivity.
  • sharing economic gains among all those who had a hand in creating them is the right thing to do
Steven Iarusci

Canadians load up on mortgages, cut card debt - 0 views

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

credit card debt mortgage rates bubble housing

shared by Steven Iarusci on 02 Jun 11 - No Cached
  • The bank set aside $145million in provisions for credit losses, down $104-million as more customers repaid their loans.
    • Steven Iarusci
      Steven Iarusci on 02 Jun 11
       
      BMO is the bank in question.
  • consumer credit-card balances are declining as bank customers start to heed warnings about taking on too much debt
  • On the residential mortgage side, Mr. Downe said he expects to see growth start to "soften" in the coming months
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • record household debt levels have left this country vulnerable to economic shocks
  • the Canadian banks will report a slight increase in profit for the quarter as they contend with the impact of declining consumer borrowing, moderating capital markets activity and other headwinds.
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  • With domestic household debt levels hovering close to where they were in the United States prior to the financial crisis, many observers are warning that Canadians need to start paying down debt if the economy is remain on level footing
  • Canadian consumers continue to pile on mortgage debt despite repeated warnings that they need to crank back on borrowing if this country is to avoid a painful real estate correction
  • anadian consumers continue to pile on mortgage debt despite repeated warnings that they need to crank back on borrowing if this country is to avoid a painful real estate correction
  • growth in the overall home loan market "is continuing to be more robust,"
  • Canada's fourth-largest lender on Wednesday kicked off second-quarter bank earnings season with a 7.5% increase in profit on the back of lower provisions for bad loans
Mike Seo

Sharp export drop squeezes trade surplus - The Globe and Mail - 1 views

www.theglobeandmail.com/...article1981544

Trade Export Import

shared by Mike Seo on 01 Jun 11 - No Cached
  • Exports tumbled 4.9 per cent in February, outpacing a 4-per-cent drop in imports and slicing the country’s trade surplus to just $33-million, trade figures showed Tuesday.
  • Canadian export levels remain 19 per cent below their peak of July, 2008.
  • The sharp drop in February’s trade volumes “portends a slowdown in the Canadian economy in the second quarter of 2011 – a slowdown connected with less robust growth in the U.S., as well as major disruptions to North American vehicle output as a result of critical parts shortages from Japan,” said Brian Bethune, chief economist for Canada at IHS Global Insight.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • The surplus narrowed in February, on lower exports of crude petroleum and cars, from a revised $382-million, Statistics Canada said Tuesday. Economists polled by Bloomberg had expected a surplus of $500-million.
  • Both imports and exports fell. Exports tumbled 4.9 per cent after four straight months of growth while imports slid 4 per cent.
  • Import volumes, meanwhile, fell 4.3 per cent while prices rose 0.2 per cent. Again, most of the drop was due to lower volumes in autos and energy. Exports to the United States fell 3.5 per cent after four months in a row of growth. Imports fell 6.1 per cent, leaving the surplus at $4.6-billion. Exports to countries other than the United States fell 8.5 per cent amid lower shipments of precious metals to the European Union. Energy exports fell 8 per cent, led by a drop in crude “reflecting higher inventories in the United States,” the agency said. That follows a 71-per-cent increase in crude exports from September to January.
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%.
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."
Joey Keum

Canadian HR Reporter - Article - February job growth weaker than expected - 1 views

www.hrreporter.com/articleview

jobs canadians market

shared by Joey Keum on 03 Jun 11 - No Cached
  • Net employment gains in the month were a modest 15,100, below market forecasts of a 21,000 increase, said a Statistics Canada report.
  • he report disappointed hopes that hiring momentum in the previous two months would persist. Net job gains were 69,200 in January and 30,400 in December.
  • Canada has recovered jobs lost during the recession faster than the United States but the February data bucked that trend.
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • The labour market is not going to create any further inflationary pressure, either coming from wage (gains) or the general strength in the labor markets," said Sebastien Lavoie, assistant chief economist at Laurentian Bank Securities.
  • The February jobless rate was unchanged at 7.8 per cent, versus the 7.7 per cent forecasts by analysts in a Reuters poll.
  • In further signs of slowing, Canada's labour report said the economy shed 24,000 full-time positions in February, partially offset by the addition of 39,000 part-time jobs. The number of self-employed workers rose, while the number working in the private sector edged lower.
  • The average hourly wage of permanent employees — which is closely watched by the Bank of Canada for inflation pressures — rose 2.5 per cent from February 2010, up from 2.3 per cent year-on-year rate in both January and December.
  • "It probably lowers the probability of any near term tightening by the Bank of Canada and as a result (will) probably weigh on the Canadian dollar," said Paul Ferley, assistant chief economist at the Royal Bank of Canada.
Lok-Hin Yuen

CTV News | With temporary workers, flexibility's the name of the game - 1 views

www.ctv.ca/...article2045163.html

Jobs Temporary Workers Labour

shared by Lok-Hin Yuen on 03 Jun 11 - No Cached
  • Weak business confidence coming out of the global credit crisis is playing a major part in keeping jobless rates at painful levels – U.S. unemployment is nine per cent while Canada is stuck above 7.5 per cent in large part because companies are wary of hiring long-term.
  • Canada’s employment-services industry is mostly temporary staffing along with permanent placements and contract staffing, according to Statscan. Revenue has climbed steadily in the past decade, and employment in the sector has jumped six per cent in the past year alone, to 158,000 people.
  • But as the industry grows around the world – staffing firms are expanding in Europe and in emerging markets such as India and China – there’s an intensifying debate over the merits of an increasingly fluid work force. Proponents say it helps both employers and workers be nimble in globally competitive markets; opponents argue it’s part of a shift toward precarious, lower-pay work.
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • Temporary workers tend to earn less than permanent staff, they get little or no benefits and many can be fired without notice
  • The earnings gap between a permanent and a contract worker is about 13 per cent, while between a permanent and casual worker the gap is about 34 per cent
  • Labour is typically a company’s most expensive cost, and a contingent labour force helps reduce costs
  • What staffing agencies dub “flexible” work, unions call “precarious.”
  • With the recession and the resulting slackness, employers are in a position where they can offer no security, no benefits, unreliable hours and lousy pay – and still have people apply. And that will persist until either the labour market picks up or we put some restrictions in place on how precarious employment works
  • Lower pay leads to weaker consumer spending, restricts workers’ ability to get a mortgage and makes it more difficult to save for the future.
  • $8.7-billionRevenue from temp industry in Canada in 2009 (up from $1-billion in 1993).158,000Number of Canadians employed in temp services in the past year, up six per cent from year earlier.13%Estimated earnings gap between a permanent worker and a temporary contract worker.
John wang

Women expect less money than men when entering workforce, study suggests | Posted | Nat... - 0 views

news.nationalpost.com/...ering-workforce-study-suggests

women economic inequality

shared by John wang on 02 Jun 11 - No Cached
  • Women leaving university expect smaller paycheques and longer line-ups for promotions than their male counterparts, finds a new Canadian study that suggests the lower expectations are self-perpetuated.
  • women predict their salaries will be 14% lower than what men tend to forecast in their own professional lives
  • earn only 68% of the salaries their equally qualified male peers earn
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • 18% less
  • found the male students’ expectations are way too high. These results may indicate that women are just more realistic about their salary expectations
  • If these students are asking their mothers or older women for their experiences, they will be getting a reflection of the historical inequality
  • emphasize a balance between a career and a personal life and contributing to society,
Maria Li

House prices fall sharply in May - Hometrack | Reuters - 0 views

uk.reuters.com/...ometrack-idUKTRE74S2XA20110529

Housing Prices

shared by Maria Li on 03 Jun 11 - No Cached
  • House prices in England and Wales dropped at their fastest annual pace in over 1-1/2 years in May as demand fell for the first time since January
  • Property research company Hometrack said prices were 3.7 percent lower in May compared with a year ago, the biggest decline since October 2009.
  • Economists expect high inflation, weak wage growth, tax rises and public spending cuts to weigh on consumer spending and house prices this year, despite record low interest rates.
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • The GfK NOP measure showed its biggest rise in almost 20 years in May, although analysts said it may have received a temporary boost from unusually fine weather, the royal wedding and a run of public holidays.
  • The Hometrack survey showed that the number of new buyers registered with estate agents fell by 0.5 percent in May, the first decline since January.
  • The number of sales agreed rose by 1.6 percent in May, lower than the 8 percent jump seen in April and March's 12.6 percent rise.
  • London continued to buck the national trend, with prices up by 0.2 percent on the month.
  • "With concern over household finances and the wider economic outlook, demand for housing is likely to continue to post further modest declines over the summer,"
dylan huber

Relation between income inequality and mortality in Canada and in the United States: cr... - 0 views

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/...PMC27328

Inequality Income mortality

shared by dylan huber on 02 Jun 11 - No Cached
  • Canadian provinces and metropolitan areas generally had both lower income inequality and lower mortality than US states and metropolitan areas
  • 1% increase in the share of income to the poorer half of households would reduce mortality by 21 deaths per 100000.
  • income inequality was not significantly associated with mortality.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • Canada seems to counter the increasingly noted association at the societal level between income inequality and mortality.
  • no relation within Canada at either the province or metropolitan area level
dylan huber

Income inequality | The Economist - 0 views

www.economist.com/...income_inequality

Inequality Income solutions USA

shared by dylan huber on 02 Jun 11 - No Cached
  • Despite a quarter century during which incomes have drifted ever farther apart, the distribution of wealth has remained remarkably stable. The richest Americans now earn as big a share of overall income as they did a century ago, but their share of overall wealth is much lower. Indeed, it has barely budged in the few past decades.
  • distribution of wealth has remained remarkably stable. The richest Americans now earn as big a share of overall income as they did a century ago, but their share of overall wealth is much lower. Indeed, it has barely budged in the few past decades.
  • Productivity and globalisation have caused real income to rise much faster for those at the top of the income distribution than it has for the poor and middle class. High earners experienced more than a 30% increase in their real income over the last thirty years. Meanwhile, the bottom 50% of wage earners saw their real income increased by only 5-10%.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • Whether these shifts were good or bad depends on your political persuasion. Those on the left lament the gaps, often forgetting that the greater income disparities have created bigger incentives to get an education, which has led to a better trained, more productive workforce. The share of American workers with a college degree, 20% in 1980, is over 30% today.
  • the focus should be on giving everyone a an equal chance to be successful. This might mean making the tax code less regressive by expanding the earned income tax credit, eliminating tax subsidies to the rich, and improving access to quality education. 
Ilia Merkoulovitch

UDPATE: Canada Budget Watchdog Sees Deficit Through Fiscal 2016 - WSJ.com - 0 views

online.wsj.com/...BT-CO-20110601-711646.html

Economic growth defecit debt election

shared by Ilia Merkoulovitch on 01 Jun 11 - No Cached
  • Ilia Merkoulovitch on 01 Jun 11
     
    Odds are very slim for the Canadian government to balance the budget by 2015. Though growth is projected at 2.9% for 2011, it is projected lower around 2% for 2012 and 2013
Peter Shishkov

The gas-price debate - 0 views

www.economist.com/...fuel_prices

Commodity Prices

shared by Peter Shishkov on 01 Jun 11 - No Cached
  • Peter Shishkov on 01 Jun 11
     
    Neither the Republicans' nor the Democrats' policy proposals have much chance of having a significant effect on prices. Your taxis and town cars and commutes are not going to be made any cheaper-at least in the near-term-by ending oil company subsidies or drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge There isn't much that politicians can do to lower gas prices, but there is some good news for politicians panicked about the potential effect of high gas prices on their re-election chances.
Kiruban Mahadeva

Tax incentives don't create jobs: economist - 0 views

www.calgaryherald.com/...story.html

Tax Government Spending Jobs

shared by Kiruban Mahadeva on 31 May 11 - No Cached
  • Tax incentives for small business don't create jobs and in some cases restrict a company's growth
  • lower taxes create disincentives for small businesses to grow
  • governments have reduced or eliminated corporate taxes on small businesses (2.5 per cent in Alberta) even though there is no evidence the move is effective
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • companies may break into smaller units to take advantage of tax benefits
  • concern really is over the growth aspect and job creation, because we do see so few small businesses growing
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.
Heshani Makalande

Banks trim mortgage rates - The Globe and Mail - 0 views

www.theglobeandmail.com/...article2037912

Mortgage rates

shared by Heshani Makalande on 28 May 11 - No Cached
  • Four of Canada’s biggest banks are once again lowering residential mortgage rates at a time when falling government bond yields are cutting funding costs for financial institutions.
  • Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia and Bank of Montreal are all trimming their posted rates on popular five-year fixed-rate mortgages by 0.1 percentage point to 5.49 per cent among other reductions.
  • The last time they did so was on May 19 when rates for five-year closed mortgages fell by 0.1 percentage point to 5.59 per cent.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • RBC, TD, Scotiabank and BMO are also trimming interest rates on Saturday for a number of other residential mortgage products, including various special offers.
  • This latest round of mortgage rate cuts was prompted by falling yields on government bonds across a range of terms, said TD spokeswoman Barbara Timmins in an e-mail.
  • For instance, the yield on the five-year Government of Canada benchmark bond was 2.33 per cent on Thursday, down from 2.58 per cent on May 2 (the first business day of the month), according to data on the Bank of Canada’s website.
  • Banks usually try to match maturities when they use bonds to finance consumer mortgages. As a result, a five-year government bond would be matched up with a five-year consumer mortgage.
    • Heshani Makalande
      Heshani Makalande on 28 May 11
       
      Currently it is easy to get a mortgage because the interest rates are low. This is good news for consumers who will continue to enjoy record low interest rates on mortgages and other borrowing.
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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