Cornwall ON – Is the world about to enter a long Depression? We’ve heard about a “jobless recovery” but there’s really no such thing.
I use the analogy of having a leak in your pool ( I know a very bourgeois analogy). Instead of fixing the leak you simply turn on your hose. The level stays near the same until you turn off the water.
Most of the world government’s choice in dealing with the recession of 2008 was to print and borrow “stimulus” money. Here in Canada the Harper Government had what they called the “Economic Action Plan” and spent millions promoting their efforts which essentially shovel ready infrastructure plans.
Our new arena in Cornwall is getting a blast of those dollars. Car companies were propped up and for reasons that apparently only a banker or politician can explain monies were pumped into successful Canadian banks.
We in Canada have weathered the storm better than many other countries, but what history shows is that what effects your neighbour ultimately effects you.
We are now, I fear, in the early stages of a third depression. It will probably look more like the Long Depression than the much more severe Great Depression. But the cost — to the world economy and, above all, to the millions of lives blighted by the absence of jobs — will nonetheless be immense.
And who will pay the price for this triumph of orthodoxy? The answer is, tens of millions of unemployed workers, many of whom will go jobless for years, and some of whom will never work again.
Taxpayers now have to pay not only for their own survival, but the countries with a mass of extra debt that really didn’t help the average person. Now governments are talking tough talk about deficits, slashing spending, and prudence after spending billions around the globe which of course will lead to …..deflation, job cuts, and if as predicted.
A Depression.
The G20/G8 meetings in Toronto end today. The big news coming out of them is that Stephen Harper is writing a cheque for over a billion dollar commitment in foreign aid in a time of recession to grab some photo time and that Mr. Sarkozy stated that his summit will cost 10% of what Canada spent.
What do you think Canada? You can post your comments below.
Depressions and recessions are often begun by a lack of consumer confidence. This lack of confidence is often based on fear caused by the press. Too many stories are printed about how we are on the brink of a new recession and guess what? People are afraid to commit to buying that new car or moving into that larger house. And as a result, a recession is begun. I believe the press has a duty to report the truth, but also not to harm consumer confidence through fear-based stories, whether they deal with money or whether it is safe to walk the streets after dark. The average person will follow what they hear or read and such stories really do society in general no good. It has been shown in larger cities that the single word ‘recession’ used in a news story will have an adverse effect on local spending.
The what effects your neighbour line reminds me of dominos, each tile or difficulty in this case, goes against the next. I wonder then if this will change the world structure a bit through a change in buying habits. Fewer people working or getting raises will mean less purchasing of nice to haves, or the next big thing in electronics, slowing that industry and then research & developement and so on, filtering to the grocery store and speciality shops.
Jobless recovery, double dip recession. No such thing. The governments of the world are affraid to admit what our global economic climate is. We are in a depression and it’s just getting started. Better start stocking up on storable foods. You may not need to use it but you’ll hate yourself if you don’t have it, if and when it’s needed. Consider it insurance you can eat.
It’s a little like “it’s better to have a gun and not need it, than to need a gun and not have it!”
Ya a big stink is coming. Too much debt. Deficits are too high. Too much money printing.
I can’t believe Harper put forward the idea of cutting deficits in half by 2013. The guy is the biggest spender since Mulroney.
Many of our current societal structures are out of date and no longer work. Health care, politics and business are all systems that are intimately linked to economics. When we do not change proactively eventually crisis will force us to change – albeit in a more painful way. Perhaps the only way our culture will change is in response to a complete economic breakdown. As scary as this seems history has demonstrated that this happens approximately every 80 years and it always results in new structures and institutions that evolve beyond what most thought possible at the time.
Historically, we are overdue for the next major crisis and the people who weather it most effectively will be those who are most adaptable to rapid change and who have the strongest relationships with family and friends. Now is the time to focus on the things that cannot be taken away.
“Now is the time to focus on the things that cannot be taken away.”
I like that Thorin, but in this world of single family parents, and really odd family units, that’s going to be more and more difficult.
The full value of life is being comodisized.
You are absolutely right, admin. That is why we must.
Is that comodisized or condomsized?
What can they not take away?
“they” do not exist and thus cannot take anything away. Seperatness is an illusion.
Agreed, Jason and I never did refer to “they.” Smee, what I mean is that when a culture is moving into the season of winter (which history and current events point to) it is not only important but a great opportunity to shift our focus from obtaining resources that can be lost or taken away, to developing internal resourcefulness which cannot. Nurturing relationships, learning, internal development, contemplation, strengthening wellness, peace, gratitude and compassion are all attributes that cannot be bought or sold but will inevitably set the stage for the growth of society beyond its current reality. They also make people a lot happier and more fulfilled than “stuff!”
I highly recommend the book The Fourth Turning that lays out many of these concepts much more eloquently (and with more complexity) than I can.
good point Jason