Short term being immediate shopping benefits
Long term being overall prosperity and stability of the canadian economy

quote:

Originally posted by Skipper Short term being immediate shopping benefits Long term being overall prosperity and stability of the canadian economy

I guess I was thinking you would define "short" and "long" as time periods. Regardless, I think it is difficult to predict something like "overall prosperity and stability" of a country. Generally speaking, however, I am grateful/thankful/thrilled with the abundance of natural resources (minerals, oil, gas, water, etc.) that we have, and think that things could be a lot worse. Specific industries will suffer with a higher dollar, but others will obviously flourish....so who really knows where we end up in 10-20 years?...

If the high canadian dollar is going to drive out sectors other than those related to natural resources, then we are putting far too many eggs in one basket. Diversification is never a bad thing, particularly when it comes to finite resources.

quote:

Originally posted by Skipper If the high canadian dollar is going to drive out sectors other than those related to natural resources, then we are putting far too many eggs in one basket. Diversification is never a bad thing, particularly when it comes to finite resources.

Agreed. But who ever said the political/economic/business leaders (not to mention entrepreneurs) in this country will not respond intelligently to this shifting landscape? My bet is we will.

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Originally posted by SuperJimbo Agreed. But who ever said the political/economic/business leaders (not to mention entrepreneurs) in this country will not respond intelligently to this shifting landscape? My bet is we will.

I concur. Alot of these issues are already being addressed by the SPP(the likes of those you just mentioned). Also, since when were the economic prospects of a country with a strong dollar bleak? The Swiss seem to be doing just fine.

___________________
We are the kids of the quiet revolution, and we fight for a new quiet concept of evolution. We play house music.

I work in the US and live in Canada

With the dollar being so damn high it fuckin sucks!

It would be great if it went down to like $0.65 or so..lol...then I would be getting an automatic raise!

EVERYTHING ELSE ASIDE.....

EBAY ROXORZ RIGHT NOW!!!! PAID 60% LESS THAN LOCAL RETAIL, ON AN ITEM I'VE WANTED FOR A LONG TIME!!!

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My SoundCloud

quote:

Originally posted by slingshot I concur. Alot of these issues are already being addressed by the SPP(the likes of those you just mentioned). Also, since when were the economic prospects of a country with a strong dollar bleak? The Swiss seem to be doing just fine.

I don't know much about Swedish trade, but I know that the US is our biggest trading partner and when our products get this much more expensive, it is NOT good for the cdn economy!

There is a good discussion on the globe and mail's website today attached to the article about the dollar hitting 1.07 and one reader sums things up perfectly --

The loonie's sudden rise is hugely destablizing for Canada's economy. The dollar's rapid gain is soon going to act as if a huge tariff wall was just erected against every good or service Canadians export. Maybe even more seriously, it will act as if an actual ban has been slapped on Canadian exports worldwide. Our export earnings - - and we are a trading nation - - are about to take a huge dive. The resulting loss of jobs and inability to earn dollars from selling abroad will rapidly cool our economy across the country, including even a modest slowdown in Alberta. It is the speed with which this has all happened that is quite frightening - - no one has time to adjust or plan if you are an exporter of any manufactured good, a forestry company, in the auto business or a retailer in a shopping mall in any city in the country. I for one am not comfortable seeing the dollar go up like a rocket when there are no fundamentals supporting it's rise above par with the US dollar.

If you go shopping to the United States for the day, how much are you allowed to bring back without being taxed... (Not counting all the stuff that i'll be wearing and have in my pockets lol)

quote:

Originally posted by Skipper The loonie's sudden rise is hugely destablizing for Canada's economy. The dollar's rapid gain is soon going to act as if a huge tariff wall was just erected against every good or service Canadians export. Maybe even more seriously, it will act as if an actual ban has been slapped on Canadian exports worldwide. Our export earnings - - and we are a trading nation - - are about to take a huge dive. The resulting loss of jobs and inability to earn dollars from selling abroad will rapidly cool our economy across the country, including even a modest slowdown in Alberta. It is the speed with which this has all happened that is quite frightening - - no one has time to adjust or plan if you are an exporter of any manufactured good, a forestry company, in the auto business or a retailer in a shopping mall in any city in the country. I for one am not comfortable seeing the dollar go up like a rocket when there are no fundamentals supporting it's rise above par with the US dollar.

In the examples above (automotive/manufacturing/forestry sectors) don't just think about the Canadian exporters. Consider how difficult it might be for (US) importers to unwind contracts with Canadian companies. Especially if they are multi-year, multi-million or billion dollar contracts. It's just not that simple. Depending on the industry, it could be very difficult to find replacement suppliers, let alone ones that have the skills or expertise reuired AND have excess capacity. These types of structural shifts in the economy and across industries will take years, not days.

Anyway, there are enough sound arguments on both sides to make your head spin. Personally, I am very skeptical when I read the newspaper or listen to people express their opinions about this topic, as almost everyone has a vested interest in one argument or the other, or really just aren't qualified to make a rationale assessment -- present company (i.e. ME) included.

quote:

Originally posted by Skipper I don't know much about Swedish trade, but I know that the US is our biggest trading partner and when our products get this much more expensive, it is NOT good for the cdn economy! There is a good discussion on the globe and mail's website today attached to the article about the dollar hitting 1.07 and one reader sums things up perfectly -- The loonie's sudden rise is hugely destablizing for Canada's economy. The dollar's rapid gain is soon going to act as if a huge tariff wall was just erected against every good or service Canadians export. Maybe even more seriously, it will act as if an actual ban has been slapped on Canadian exports worldwide. Our export earnings - - and we are a trading nation - - are about to take a huge dive. The resulting loss of jobs and inability to earn dollars from selling abroad will rapidly cool our economy across the country, including even a modest slowdown in Alberta. It is the speed with which this has all happened that is quite frightening - - no one has time to adjust or plan if you are an exporter of any manufactured good, a forestry company, in the auto business or a retailer in a shopping mall in any city in the country. I for one am not comfortable seeing the dollar go up like a rocket when there are no fundamentals supporting it's rise above par with the US dollar.

Swiss....as in Switzerland. If you read between the lines of what I said you can see that I very much believe our economy is in a transitional period. The driving force behind our economic prosperity over the last couple of years has been commodities and oil. Commodity prices and oil are both through the roof. I would even go as far as saying that we could use a minor slow down in these to cool inflation in Alberta. That is only until the AMERICAN economy stabilizes and our dollar beings to trade where it should be trading. It's not the loonies sudden rise that is "destabilizing" our economy. It's the greenbacks sudden decline. There are so many different arguments that can be made here. Regardless of whether or not our dollar is being traded up bigtime, our exporters would still be holding their breath given the decline in American consumption spending. An American economy on the fritz does not bode well for our exporters regardless of whether or not our currency is inflated. Not too sure what the author is basing his points off of but it's quite funny nonetheless. Someone needs to bring to his attention that the auto industry has been on the way out for years and that retailers in shopping malls actually benefit from a strengthened dollar. Someone should also inform him that all he needs to do is look next door to find the "fundamentals" that are driving our dollar up and give him a lesson into the logic of the currency trader.

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We are the kids of the quiet revolution, and we fight for a new quiet concept of evolution. We play house music.

quote:

Originally posted by SuperJimbo Anyway, there are enough sound arguments on both sides to make your head spin. Personally, I am very skeptical when I read the newspaper or listen to people express their opinions about this topic, as almost everyone has a vested interest in one argument or the other, or really just aren't qualified to make a rationale assessment

Well said, James. I couldn't agree with you more.

___________________
We are the kids of the quiet revolution, and we fight for a new quiet concept of evolution. We play house music.