14 October 2008
7 Oct
Voters must stop expecting the impossible from government:
If Mr. Harper comes up with his own new plan for the economy, he could be accused of improvising and will undercut his campaign, during which he has accused Mr. Dion of making up policy as he goes along. If he doesn’t acknowledge the Canadian economy is vulnerable and fails to offer a solution, he may be accused of a “what-me-worry” attitude, the kind of approach that appears to have hurt him in the wake of the debate.
Newsflash: There is no solution to be offered up by government. This is a crisis brought on by human behaviour, such as greed, and the only thing to do is to ride it out with as steady a hand on government as possible.
The crisis now affecting global markets was caused by nothing short of sheer stupidity, with one average American summing it up better than any of the Goldman Sachs economists and analysts:
“You can’t give an $8-an-hour worker a $500,000 home.”
Nor is this a time for experiments, as NDP candidate Tom King has explained:
“Here’s one little story,” he tells the captivated audience in his baritone campfire voice. It’s about Stéphane Dion’s “revenue neutral” Green Shift program. “I’m reminded of a guy with a horse,” he says. “He feeds that horse hay on one end, then walks to the other end and checks to see if he gets the same amount of hay out — and in the same form.”

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4 Responses for "Ride it out — there are no miracle cures"
you’re not suggesting that the steady hand be that of Flaherty, are you?
The poor policies of the Harper/Flaherty duo certainly don’t give me confidence. (allowing derivative trading in cpp, income trusts, 40 yr mortgage, gst cut…)
I am not suggesting they are the cause by no means, but I don’t trust their response to be the right one.
The gouvernment not having “the solution” to the financial crisis is ok.
Not even trying anything to help Canadian individuals and businesses most vulnerable to the crisis survive through it? Not even trying anything so that Canadians could be less affected by the upcoming impacts of the crisis? Hiding behind an isolated optimism?
-> Irresponsable.
the causes are simply 3 things.
1. all the money is stuck at the top of the system. how are people supposed to keep the economy growing if they don’t have any money and corporations have sent all the good jobs overseas? A system that requires growth to live eventually implodes on itself….law of nature.
2. people’s expectations are too high. The average person thinks that they deserve a new TV, iphone, car, house on thier 15 dollar an hour wage so they rack up thier credit card to the max. People don’t know how to save or spend money anymore.
3. Our economy has become one that is based on having money instead of actual work……….how come the investors/bankers/traders make big bucks while the people actually doing the work that drives these companies make peanuts. Didn`t anyone think that it is kinda funny that a guy who waves his fingers all day makes more than you? I mean what did he actually do?
No Harper didn’t cause the collapse, nor can anyone actually fix it in the short term. I personally think that all of the parties have got it wrong on the economy and that we should be following the direction of South America. Regardless, I think that the main opposition to Harper is that he doesn’t want to acknowledge that there is a problem with the principles that the modern economy and still thinks that the way its been going for the last 30 years is still the best possible way.
But then again. Who can blame him. He is an economist. And they know best right? Oh wait. It was them that put us in this mess………
While I agree government may affect little, the crux of the first quote deals with communication not economics.
Harper, as an experienced politician and economist, should have said ” we acknowledge that there is a problem in world credit markets that is having an impact on Canada. I understand that Canadians are concerned. I too am concerned, and therefore I have taken the following steps 1) Our government has held discussions with/met senior executives in Canadian banks and financial institutions. These have confirmed their companies are on a solid footing, in part due to the stronger regulatory framework we have in Canada which is completely different from the US” 2)& 3)….
You get the point. The PM is there to govern, to show decisiveness and leadership. Doing nothing is not governing and is anything but “a steady hand”.
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