We're never going to out-tech/finance the US, but I think the way we close the gap is by again focusing on our most obvious strength, our natural resources. That's really the one thing that can set Canada apart on the global stage, and has in the past. It's not a surprise that the two provinces (Alberta and Saskatchewan) with the largest GDP per capita are the ones that have a large resource sector. For things like the AI/Tech boom...the way we prosper in Canada is not by trying to out nerd the nerds in the US/India/China, it's by being the ones who supply the power and commodities needed to run these things. We need to be the worlds commodity/energy backbone, and not be ashamed of that.
Unfortunately our real chance in that area is going to take a big hit with the discarding of environmental concerns. Where once you could argue we had the energy and the storage basins for carbon that it only makes sense to do it here, now you can just pipe the gas to the States and they do ti themselves. Same with our abandonment for green energy in the province. I know, no one caress now, and that's the new world, but we kinda lost that edge. But yes, natural resources will always be Canada's biggest benefit, but it's also a huge challenge. It's no where near as easy as programming a new app to cash in on.
Some good points relating to GDP and its statistical limitations, but based on other posts you feel that a place like Ireland would be good to dramatically increase government debt since you feel that debt to GDP ratio is a particularly useful measure?
Seems incongruous.
Not really. GDP is largely a measure of the tax base because corporate profits that flow through the country can and are taxed by that country. So a country with a high GDP could generally service a debt that's in proportion with their GDP.
Ireland specifically would probably want to be careful with debt because their high rate of economic activity is based more on convenience (primarily due to low taxes) than it is with anything inherently relating to Ireland. So they may not have the capacity to raise taxes compared to places where economic activity is more intrinsic to the location (like with a resource rich country for instance).
I suppose you could use debt-to-tax revenue as a measure to compare across jurisdictions, but that has weaknesses as well, largely because it ignores the fiscal capacity to service the debt. A country with really high taxes might come out looking OK, but they likely can't raise taxes any further if they need to, while a lower tax jurisdiction has more room to move, and debt to GDP will account for that.
But yes, natural resources will always be Canada's biggest benefit, but it's also a huge challenge. It's no where near as easy as programming a new app to cash in on.
Extracting value from natural resources is nowhere near as easy/cheap/quick as programming a new app, but in some ways that's also our economic moat. You can have a thousand chips or programmers working over time, but you can't code yourself wheat or minerals. Never mind the fact those chips and programmers don't run on magic particles.
It's not sexy, but resource extraction is what sets us apart. It may also be one of the reasons we get invaded at some point (or why Trump even talks about taking us over), but hey that's another conversation, ha.
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Resource extraction is a lot about momentum,meaning we should have started everything 20 years ago. The danger there is changing markets and demands, which does make it hard to capitalize a lot of these projects. It's like the McKenzie gas pipeline that made all the sense in the world until gas prices plummeted when horizontal drilling became a thing. Had gas prices remained high, we may have had an export pipeline to the north. So I think that's another big challenge that probably does increase the requirement of government supports. And that often devolves into ideological battles. Can we put AI in charge yet?
*Fuzz checks chatbot thread*
On second thought...
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I ordered my Christmas gifts through Amazon to avoid mall shopping and I regret it kind of.
A lot of items came in unusual/sketchy packaging that didnt present well when unwrapping. Instruction manuals had strange, nonsensical wording in them and were vague, some items looked a lot cheaper IRL.
Technically they send you what you buy but it's not without corner cutting, a lot of third party "imitation" manufacturers and Chinese sourcing, lipsticking pigs with polished and unrealistic photos, and what looks like great sales but actually aren't really deals considering what you're getting.
I'm also relieved because of my newfound motivation to buy from legitimate vendors and local ones. I hope other people are motivated similarly, because shopping online definitely does not come with an assurance of quality.
Resource extraction is a lot about momentum,meaning we should have started everything 20 years ago. The danger there is changing markets and demands, which does make it hard to capitalize a lot of these projects. It's like the McKenzie gas pipeline that made all the sense in the world until gas prices plummeted when horizontal drilling became a thing. Had gas prices remained high, we may have had an export pipeline to the north.
Yeah it's about momentum, but more importantly a long term commitment and some sort of unified national strategy... which admittedly is not something that seems to be a particular strength of Canada at the moment. We can't even seem to agree whether having a resource industry is a good thing, never mind trying to maximize its potential through some specific strategy.
IMO, as a baseline I think we at least need to go back to having a mindset of seeing our natural resources as something to be proud of, not something we hide from. At any point in time, the parameters may change, the preferred commodity may change, but we should at least work towards being in a position to get lucky. When the Germans came calling a few years ago desperate for our gas, we may not have had the perfect answer, but I think we could've at least done something other than politely declining. No matter how you measure it, you don't think that could've benefited the ole' GDP?
There are a lot of old whites with money coupled with masses of poor folks whom take home a sizeable portion of Fed cash.
I can't imagine the systems in place are set up to distribute the GDP in any meaningful way.
I believe i remember reading that several automakers have been taking crazy subsidies for car plants there, along with cheap wages.
Poverty rates, wealth gap, access to healthcare - they are all crazy low compared to much "poorer" countries. So, in terms of just Gross Domestic Product, there are provinces that are comparable, but its not apples to apples in terms of living.
Decent video on Missisippi:
Interesting point in the video is the discussion of GDP in the USA is just overpowered, and Mississippi is like the worst driver in F1. GDP per capita is comparable to Germany, HK, Belgium, Finland, Austria, UAE, Israel.
I ordered my Christmas gifts through Amazon to avoid mall shopping and I regret it kind of.
A lot of items came in unusual/sketchy packaging that didnt present well when unwrapping. Instruction manuals had strange, nonsensical wording in them and were vague, some items looked a lot cheaper IRL.
Technically they send you what you buy but it's not without corner cutting, a lot of third party "imitation" manufacturers and Chinese sourcing, lipsticking pigs with polished and unrealistic photos, and what looks like great sales but actually aren't really deals considering what you're getting.
I'm also relieved because of my newfound motivation to buy from legitimate vendors and local ones. I hope other people are motivated similarly, because shopping online definitely does not come with an assurance of quality.
Well that's all on you, you didn't have to buy the cheap Chinese knockoff stuff. Whenever I buy something from Amazon I always do a bit of reading and look for the specific brand that I want, never trust the Amazon search results
Just to backup the point that it is only the US really taking off.
Italy really demonstrating what happens you elect a scumbag for the better part of the 2000s (noting the effects of federal governance generally take a few years to take full effect)
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Italy really demonstrating what happens you elect a scumbag for the better part of the 2000s (noting the effects of federal governance generally take a few years to take full effect)
That and being old. Average age us just under 50 and the birthrate is about half the deathrate. A huge proportion of their population is retired, and many of the workers they do have are over the age of 50. Not a recipe for great productivity.
If you have a "smart" door opener Amazon will put your packages in your garage. Anyone tried this? I don't think I'd trust a delivery driver having access like that.
If you have a "smart" door opener Amazon will put your packages in your garage. Anyone tried this? I don't think I'd trust a delivery driver having access like that.
I don't have a smart garage door, but I do have security cams in my garage and driveway, and I think delivery drivers would expect that.
I imagine the T&C absolve Amazon of liability if the garage door doesn't get closed again for whatever reason (though I'm thinking a smart door could probably notify you when it's been open for a while)
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If you have a "smart" door opener Amazon will put your packages in your garage. Anyone tried this? I don't think I'd trust a delivery driver having access like that.
I tried it once when I was going to be out of town. My garage faces the alley. The driver just flat out refused and entered a "door didn't work" reason for leaving it on the porch anyways.
I don't blame the driver, likely barely getting paid enough to go to the front door, let alone around the bad, but the system is flawed if they still offer the option.
I tried it for free once but won't use it again. The driver put it right where my car's tires go into the garage and I would have run over it had I not known it was there. Since I have a small carport before I enter my garage, in the dark I simply would not have seen it. Way to risky of running over it.
If you have a "smart" door opener Amazon will put your packages in your garage. Anyone tried this? I don't think I'd trust a delivery driver having access like that.
I tried it a few times, it works well. Package was left in the middle of the two car garage. I wouldn't pay extra for it though.
If you have a "smart" door opener Amazon will put your packages in your garage. Anyone tried this? I don't think I'd trust a delivery driver having access like that.
I believe they don't technically have access. If they have a matching package, I believe they can contact Amazon and can get one time access for a very short period of time.
I was at a friends house and he gets a call, "Sorry man. I forgot to leave one of the packages in the garage. I'll just leave that one at your front door." We just kinda looked at each other because we're inside his house and had no idea someone had just gone into his garage. My buddy decided he didn't want to continue with that feature unless it was some big ass/heavy delivery item. With an attached garage, it just feels kinda weird. A detached garage might be a little less weird though.
Amazon is predatory. There are articles on this and it put a friend of mine out of business. First, they have onerous terms that prevent you from selling cheaper elsewhere. They have a monopoly on shipping - no one can compete. The worst part is they monitor what is selling well and at some point go to the manufacturers directly to undercut their own vendors.
The bolded part was true 10 years ago, but amazon has moved away from 1st party selling now. The focus, since Andy Jassy took over, is to own logistics in the US.
