The Bigger They Are...

<i>Seems the US is living in denial and I think it is time we took shelter.</i><p> I agree. But not for the same reasons. When the US economy goes into full bore recession, it will drag Canada down with it, trade surplus or not. We need to insulate ourselves from it as soon as possible.<p> The good part though will be to see Wal-Mart go belly up. That will be a fine day.<p> <p>---<br>"History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme" Mark Twain <br />"The greatest price of not participating in politics is being governed by your inferiors." Plato

If you read reports from many mainstream outlets they will harp on about the great \'recovery\' going on down there. Thing is when looking deeper one would quickly see that is coming on the back of extremely low interest rates and consumers spending on credit.

america cannot afford to keep its interest rates that low forever. Second, that consumer debt will come back on them sooner or later if the economy does not really pick up.

Now couple all that with the good paying jobs leaving america for sweatshops overseas they have a bad trend going on. Canada can see a mini version of the same thing, and like Caleb said - we need to insulate ourselves now. We need to find new markets for our goods and protect our homegrown industries. (not pot for those in BC!)

Roy

Back before the war in Iraq I emailed Manley and asked him if he was buying Euros and gold and getting rid of any U.S. currency Canada may have. There was much speculation that Iraq was starting to do business in Euros along with other OPEC nations and that was part of the U.S.\'s concern for getting into Iraq\'s oil before they did that and put the U. S. at a huge disadvantage.

Canadian politicians would prop up the U. S. even when it\'s to our disadvantage however. I don\'t trust that dodgey Dodge guy either.

I used to, back in the early eighties, have a boss who used to say that the bank couldn\'t shut him down because he owed them too much. His theory was that as long as he at least talked about paying them back one day that they would keep him afloat or they would never see a penny of what he owed.

I wonder if we aren\'t seeing something similar with the US right now. The US owes so much to everybody that nobody wants to start calling in debt for fear of never being paid anything.

That job I had back in the early eighties ended when I showed up to work one morning to find a sherriff\'s van outside and a locksmith changing the locks. How long before that happens to the US?

That is a good tactic. One that some globalization critics suggest that the South American countries use. By having the huge debt they have actually gives them bargaining power over the G7 countries.