The collapse of global oil prices, coupled with weak prices in other commodity markets, a key factor behind Canada’s investment slump
While Canada’s economy continues to grind out positive if unspectacular gains in employment and gross domestic product (GDP), below the surface the picture is less encouraging. For several years, our economy has basically been kept afloat by free-spending consumers and overheated real estate markets. Throughout this period, export growth has been meagre and investment outside…
From higher commodity prices to lower business taxes to changes in available labour, Trump's policies could dramatically alter agriculture
Donald Trump has been a topic of conversation at dinner tables for some time. Now, the American president-elect is poised to push up the cost of the food on those same tables. Policy proposals on immigration, trade and security dominated the U.S. presidential campaign. Not much was said about agriculture or food policies. But a…
Widespread commodity price declines will depress the national economy through this year and probably into 2017
The ongoing decline in commodity prices has hit Canada’s economy hard, depressing incomes, and triggering layoffs and capital spending cuts. The U.S.-dollar prices of most internationally traded commodity products have slipped, hammering hundreds of resource companies (and their suppliers), and hurting business and consumer confidence across swaths of the country. And it’s important to realize that…