The 2010 G20 Toronto Summit: Halving Deficits
This past weekend, Toronto hosted one of the G20 summits that have been occurring twice a year since 2008. One of the hot topics on the agenda was economic recovery after our recent recession, and due to the European debt crisis that is currently underway. While there was a divide among attendees about which was […]
RBC Canadian Consumer Outlook Results
The Royal Bank of Canada polls Canadian consumers regularly. Today, the results for the most recent poll were released. We’ve heard a lot in the news that the economy is getting better, but there’s been debate over whether it actually is improving, or whether people are just being optimistic. According to the Canadian Consumer Outlook, […]
EI and Bankruptcy Filings Dramatically Increasing
The number of Canadians filing for bankruptcy and unemployment benefits rose significantly in January, according to new numbers released Tuesday by The Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada. More than 117,000 Canadians filed for bankruptcy over the period of twelve months ending January 2009. This denotes an increase of 15.8 % from the previous […]
SR&ED – Essential To Canadian Manufacturers
The current economic recession has proven to hit even harder than many economists anticipated. An estimated 129,000 Canadians lost their jobs in January alone, of which Statistics Canada reports that Ontario workers lost a staggering 71,000. Alberta, once a thriving, profitable province, is even feeling the blow, having recently announced another 15,000 jobs lost. Forecasters […]
Inflation or Deflation- What Will be the Ultimate Outcome?
Economists really do not have a consensus as to what will happen in the next little while. At the moment, they cannot agree whether inflation or deflation is the bigger threat. Deflationists believe that the cooling economy will lead to decreased consumption. This, combined with lower gas prices, lower housing prices, and the plummeting stock […]
Increasing Government Spending Will Stimulate the Economy
Keynesian Economics, or “The New Economics,” holds that governments should vary taxes and spending to offset both rising inflation and staggering output. Free-marketers argue that the cost of periodic crashes is worth it, in order to preserve the freedom of capital movements. At the moment, the former notion is prevailing. Before the 2008 financial crisis, […]
Canada Barely Avoids Recession
Canada narrowly avoided a recession in the first half of this year as the economy (GDP, or Gross Domestic Product) edged up by a weaker-than-expected rate of 0.3 per cent in the second quarter, following a revised 0.8 per cent drop in the previous three-month period. Most analysts had expected second-quarter growth of 0.6 per […]
Cutting costs without sacrificing the future
In times of recession, many companies cut down on costs. But unless you’re facing bankruptcy, cutting costs may come at the cost of sacrificing future sales. For instance, to make the bottom line look better, you could always downsize R&D efforts. This may make the current quarter look more profitable. However, the lack of R&D may […]