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#1319 13 June Page 2
Introduction
Montréal Charter of Rights and Responsibilities
How often it takes someone "from away" to teach us about our own society. The Mayor of Atlanta, who is in town for a conference, said at a reception this evening that one of the things she most admires about Montreal is the creation of the Charter of Rights and Responsibilities, a creature of the Tremblay administration that came into force on January 1, 2006, and that no-one around the Wednesday Night table had ever heard of, leading us to think that it does not apply to de-merged cities. The Atlanta Mayor praised the Charter for emphasizing that with rights go responsibilities, a fact that is much overlooked when rights are claimed.
Public image
How much have colour photography, digital technology and other technical advances changed the way we view our heroes, villains and elected representatives? William Lyon Mackenzie King, possibly the blandest, most uncharismatic personage ever to serve as Prime Minister, held that office for over twenty-one years, the longest serving Prime Minister in British Commonwealth history. It has been claimed by some cynics that charismatic President John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s greatest gift to the world was having left this world before having left office. Prior to live television debates and news clips, personal appearance seemed, perhaps unjustly, of less importance than accomplishment.
In the current world, the favoring of homegrown couture by women in the public eye (Jackie Kennedy, Princess Diana, Mila Mulroney, Adrienne Clarkson and the current Governor General, to name a few) is lauded as an appropriate promotion of national designers. But, oh dear, the Right Honourable Stephen Harper should take a page from the ladies' book. Why does our Prime Minister have to look, in the words of one Wednesday Nighter, as though he bought his suits from a Canadian Tire catalogue? Previous prime ministers have been well tailored and some elegant. When they appeared as Canada's leader, we were not ashamed. Like it or not, in the minds of the multitude, the sartorial skills of a political leader may be seen to reflect the stature of the country that he or she represents and Canada does not deserve to appear dowdy on the world political stage. And there are those who might even say "dress a man like a [hick] and he acts like a [hick]".
The former Lieutenant Governor and the auditors
Waste seems to be pervasive at all levels of government – as we are too often reminded, but it is the expansive expenditures of the local representatives of our Head of State, the former Governor General of Canada and former Lieutenant-Governor of Québec, that are criticized.
In the latter case, The money, used for "family get-togethers, trips and shows," double-dipping when she claimed expenses from Ottawa that Quebec had already paid and extravagances, like a $12,000 one-day fishing trip in the Gaspé region, were detailed in reports by both the federal and Quebec auditors-general notwithstanding the probability that the sums spent over a ten-year period represent but an insignificant fraction of the money spent with little scrutiny by elected and appointed representatives at all levels, and senior management officials of crown corporations.
Madame Thibault is not accused of hiding or disguising her expenses, yet it is she, rather than the person or persons authorizing and/or reimbursing the expenses, who bears the blame. In today’s corporate and government world, the motives for such accusations are manifold, including casting a bad light on the opposition that made these appointments, or possibly as one would expect of an Auditor General, a genuine concern for good governance of sums from the public purse. It is to be hoped that the latter was the case although the as-yet-unanswered question remains: who authorized the expenses and how to explain their complicity, disinterest or inadequacy in doing so.
Happily, The Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean seems to have thus far escaped any such condemnation and appears to be validating the much criticized position that she holds by enhancing Canada’s image abroad, her principal mandate. Presumably also, the barn door will be firmly closed by Mme Fraser.
Stéphane Dion's unpopularity
Federal Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion is certainly no George Clooney, but according to various anecdotal evidence from across the country, he has charmed most Canadians (with the exception of a good number of Quebeckers) he has met. Incomprehensibly, his handlers have insulated him from a large percentage of potential voters, citing a perceived incomprehensibility when he speaks English. Obviously the more he is told that he is incomprehensible, the more nervous he will be about speaking English, and thus the self-fulfilling prophecy. We profoundly wish that someone would have the good sense to arrange for him to be immersed in English-speaking Canada throughout the parliamentary recess to restore his self-confidence and with it the fluency we witnessed at Wednesday Night.
Canada's decline among developing nations
The North American Free Trade Agreement and increased commodity prices leading to the viability of the Alberta Tar Sands, have given Canada a great chance to be on the front line of technology and sustained development. But as the Conference Board of Canada>/a> reports this week, Canada is sliding into mediocrity.
Canada is an uneven performer, according to the new report card that benchmarks Canada’s performance against that of leading OECD countries across six broad domains—Economy, Innovation, Environment, Education and Skills, Health and Society. With one “A,” three “B”s and two “D”s, our mediocre overall standing confirms the message the Conference Board has been reiterating for the last decade: Canada is not keeping up with the top performers in the new global economy.
Most startling and important to Canada’s competitiveness and sustainable prosperity is the “D” grade on Innovation, where Canada ranks fourth to last in the 17-country comparator group. Our only “A” grade is earned in Education and Skills where, despite our ability to deliver a high quality education to children and youth, a large percentage of adults with low level basic skills and literacy remain underserved. Additionally, we do not stimulate enough students to complete post-graduate degrees. conferenceboard.ca/documents
Unfortunately, although Canadians have created technological advances, their general lack of entrepreneurial drive leads them to sell that technology rather than develop it. Unless changes are made and educational and governmental incentives provided, we remained doomed to continue to avoid exploiting the opportunities provided us by nature, geography and human ingenuity. Although David Dodge has expressed concern that it is the ageing population that will ultimately affect Canada's prosperity , it would seem that lack of leadership combined with a stifling regulatory regime and a generally risk-averse mentality are more at fault.
There are times when new technologies do not translate into immediate exciting applications. Face recognition technology turns analog images into digital, an interesting but as yet not highly exciting concept. It is, however, used in England where street cams are common, to identify and keep track of known criminals in their daily life.
You Can't Take It With You
The complexity of our taxation laws grows constantly with never an attempt to simplify and rationalize. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the area of estate and estate planning in order to avoid death taxes as graphically illustrated in the recently updated book You can't take it with you by Sandra Foster And it's worth remembering that whatever you may deem to be an equitable sharing amongst your heirs can be quickly and mercilessly put asunder by the tax department.
Government grabs are not confined to Canada; if one has property or assets in the U.S., be assured Uncle Sam and all is nephew and niece states will have their fingers in the pie. We sometimes look enviously at the tax structure in the U.S., but even there, there are pitfalls. The idyllic State of Connecticut has a tax structure that is highly favourable to the living, but its residents are resigned to moving away before they die if they want to preserve anything for the next generation. Furthermore, the U.S. taxes world assets,- not really an incentive for people to save. Regardless of the intentions expressed in a will, wherever you live or die, governments have first dibs on your life savings.
Ships and sealing wax, cabbages and kings – but bees and cell phones?
Not only do we thoughtlessly attack the delicate balance of the world’s flora and fauna by over fishing, destroying trees and poisoning the earth, but we systematically ignore the interdependence of the diversity of species, including the most destructive of all, homo sapiens.
It interested us but did disturb us too much when stories emerged of the disorientation of aquatic mammals caused by submarine sonar equipment, but serious concerns are now being raised around the world over the mysterious and rapid reduction (referred to as Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD) in numbers of honeybees Apis mellifera, so necessary for pollination of crops (Three-quarters of the world's 250,000 flowering plants - including many fruits and vegetables - require pollination to reproduce.). While the decline in the bee population was reported as early as October 2004 (National Geographic honeybees.html), it has now made it to the pages of The Economist Buzz off
A German study causing quite a furor "suggests that radiation from widely used cell phones may mess up the bees’ homing abilities by interfering with the neurological mechanisms that govern learning and memory. It also appears to disrupt the insects’ ability to communicate with each other."
However, it seems more likely that increased use of pesticides is the villain>/a> Whatever the cause, we can anticipate rising inflation especially in the price of food, an expensive bond market and other as yet unforeseen misfortunes, the product of Man’s ingenuity and avarice.
The economy (See Jacques Clément's Report on the economy)
The Shanghai Bubble
It's pretty clear that the Shanghai stock market is a bonafide bubble. It's up 50% ytd after rising 130% in 2006, and, according to The Economist, 5 million new Chinese brokerage accounts were opened in April alone, 2/3 more than during all of last year. It has long been recognized by globalization experts around the world and at Wednesday Night that the world's financial markets are more closely interlinked than ever before; trouble in one market will quickly spread to all markets. Such as Chinese Investors Fear Burst of Stock Bubble
and A new tax hits the euphoric Chinese bourses
for Wed1319 June 13, 2007 by Jacques Clément
Jacques Clément Mkt video 9:35
Thursday 25 Apr 2007 To day NYT Podcast | Menu
Radio
Like the report of Mark Twain's death, reports of the death of radio –at least FM – are greatly exaggerated.
Real estate
Canadian dollar is expected to decline against its U.S. counterpart.
The economy
See also JACQUES CLEMENT: Pages ON THE ECONOMY History
U.S.
The Dow Jones stock market, in a rather volatile and corrective mode, has lost two hundred points since reaching record level (14,147) on June 4, despite declining energy and commodity prices. The European Central Bank’s eighth interest rate increase in eighteen months to four percent, the highest in almost six years, contributed to the decline. Average thirty year mortgages reached 6.61%, the highest in almost eight years as ten year treasuries traded at 5¼%, a five year high. First quarter productivity rose a moderate 1% and unit labour costs rose by close to 2%. The housing market weakened to its worst state in sixteen years with May foreclosures rising 19% (90% for the year). April personal income was negative, existing home sales off by 2½ % and leading economic indicators were negative. Housing permits plunged to the lowest level in almost ten years. Second quarter earnings growth is expected at 3.6% from over 8% in the first quarter. The 6.2% improvement in the April trade deficit to $58.5 billion as imports declined nearly 2% and the May 1.4% rebound in retail sales, today provided some support to the market. Ben Bernanke still “expects inflation to remain high and economic growth to be moderate.”
CANADA
After reaching a thirty year high of 94.80¢ U.S. on June 4, the Canadian dollarM/a> has eased a cent, given crude oil declining by $4.65 U.S. and gold, $23.00. Employment in April-May netted only 4,000 new jobs, April building permits tumbled 8.4% (with non-residential by 18%), wage inflation of 3% (May), unit labour costs surging 4% in the first quarter, the steepest rise in sixteen years and core C.P.I. of 2½%, the highest in four years, prompted David Dodge, today, to reiterate his warning that “the Central Bank may have to tighten policy soon.” The economy remains strong with May housing starts rebounding by 8.4%. The April trade surplus growing by $700 million to $5.8 billion (the first four months averaging $5.5 billion) as imports eased 3.3% and productivity rising its strongest in almost two years. First quarter earnings were up 11% (year) with manufacturing (+34%) and retail (+24%).
Wed 13 June 2007
Near Term Trading Outlook: 1319
Notes by Herb Bercovitz OWN
Editor: Diana Thébaud Nicholson OWN
Radio, the long-lasting treasure
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Oil
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Wed 13 Juune Judge Tries Suing Pants Off Dry Cleaners Roy L. Pearson Jr. sued his dry cleaner for $67.3 million over lost pants in a case that has been lampooned as an example of American legal excess.
WASHINGTON, June 12 — Roy L. Pearson Jr. wanted to dress sharply for his new job as an administrative law judge here. So when his neighborhood dry cleaner misplaced a pair of expensive pants he had planned to wear his first week on the bench, Judge Pearson was annoyed.
 Stephen S. Poloz VP EDC Economics Weekly Commentary
Aerospace Exports Flying High, Flying Low - June 13, 2007
Recent figures show that the U.S. economy did a face-plant in 2007 Q1, while Canada was humming. This has cemented the perception that Canada is decoupling from the U.S.
Canada's aerospace sector has seen it all in the past five years - boom, bust, and everything in between. Today, the sector still finds itself flying both high and low, at the same time. Past issues | his WN page
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Canadian dollar vs euro | Dow 30 w-n chart | TSX
Fed Parties Stéphan Dion | Stevie Harper
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