So yeah, more jobs have already been lost that the 40 billion stimulus bill was expected to create by rather optimistic estimates. For reference for Americans, the general rule is to multiple everything by 10, so an equivalent stimulus in the States would have been 400 billion. In other words, the Canadian stimulus was about half Obama’s stimulus.
Ouch.
Ontario in particular is in a world of hurt, because Southern Ontario, Canada’s manufacturing heartland, has been in recession for years. First it was because of the high Canadian dollar, then it was because of the Big 3 auto companies woes, but either way it’s turning into an industrial wasteland. The Harper government has no real idea what to do about it (hint: small motors are good for micro generation, lads. Get on it.) Nor has the Ontario government been all that useful, though to be fair they don’t have 40 billion to throw at ths solution (about 20 billion of which should have gone to Ontario, since Ontario is taking about half the job losses.)
The US isn’t losing jobs at quite the same rate, but the fate of the American stimulus bill will be essentially identical, since just like the Canadian one it’s too small and put together very badly, because neither Harper nor Obama believe in liberal economic policies in any significant fashion.
thingamabob
Of course, the unsurfaced assumption is that this particular Canadian government actually wanted the stimulus to work. An assumption I am not prepared to make.
Hillsfar
Do you think Canada will weather this downturn better than the U.S. will?
Ian Welsh
No. Our government is just as incompetent, and our industrial sector is melting down even faster than the US’s. Yes, our banks are stronger, but it doesn’t matter as much as folks say. And even though I expect oil prices to rise, fixed price points on Alberta oil mean it isn’t going to bring back the really good times, though it might be ok times for the oil patch.