Facing The Global Crunch

Governments around the world are scrambling feverishly to find quick-fix solutions to their rapidly melting economies. The World Bank is experiencing difficulties shoring up the fortunes of countries like Iceland and Pakistan, to keep them from total economic collapse. The European Union is suddenly discovering that all is not sweetness and light within the union as countries that were so recently content to bask in the bosom of mutual support, suddenly discover the imperative of self-help.

The Asian Development Bank reports the value of global financial assets fell by over $40-trillion last year. The International Labour Organization estimates 50-million jobs may be lost globally; china has already lost substantially more than 20-million.
The International Monetary Fund requires a doubling of its lending capacity to $500-billion to prevent the collapse of 15 developing countries.

Protectionism is raising its unaccommodating head once again, and little wonder, as jobs evaporate and people become militantly morose, causing their governments sleepless nights. In Canada, the latest figures from Statistics Canada on rising unemployment have brought no relief, with an additional 82,000 lost jobs, the majority of them in the once-engine-of-prosperity province Ontario, with manufacturing jobs passing into the history of non-competitiveness.

Canada's Conservative government has just passed its stimulus budget, with the grudging support of an antagonistic Liberal Party, the official opposition; and they're opposing like there's no tomorrow. Liberal Leader, Michael Ignatieff is feeling his oats, hitting his stride, obnoxiously targeting the prime minister as though he, in his great good stumbling wisdom could do better in saving jobs and industries.

As a result of the world-wide financial collapse, all countries are feeling their blind way through a period of huge uncertainty and frail expectations. Canada is heavily dependent on exports, both manufacturing and natural resources, to maintain its position as one of the G8's most successful economies. We're still, as attested to by international financial bodies, in far better shape than other industrialized countries.

Our banks are healthy and thriving, although our economy is faltering, and unemployment is growing. But opportunities are there, and they will increase, and the Canadian economy will pick up. We're heavily dependent on the health of the American economy to ensure the Canadian economy stays in good health, but an ailing U.S. economy impacts on the well-being of the global economy, as well.

We're experiencing a rare trade deficit, but that's precisely the position most other countries find themselves in - without the inherent strengths of position in security of resources and banking that Canada has. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been up front and resolute in his determination to ensure that Canadians fully understand our economic position. Our faltering is temporary.

People are worried, those who are able to are unwilling to spend to help the economy recover, and those without employment fear a bleak future. It's a syndrome that assails every country on a fairly regular basis, and one that we've met in varying degrees and overcome handily in the near past. The official opposition in Parliament berates the government for bearing bad tidings, and berates the prime minister when he delivers hopeful news of opportunities toward recovery.

In the United States, the president has gone from speaking of the dire financial situation their economy is in, and blaming the greed of wealthy corporate, industrial and financial interests, to speaking of the great strength of the American economy, more than capable of dusting itself off and recovering to even greater strength in leading the world economy.

He, like Prime Minister Harper, emphasizes that the fundamentals are sound and will remain so, although the U.S. situation is far more dire than Canada's. Both express confidence in the future, as well they should. China's premier, while admitting a colossal loss of jobs in their industrially and manufacturing-robust economy - in the wake of an abrupt loss in export orders from abroad - still boasts that China's finances are healthy and stable.

The G20 heads of state and finance ministers in their recent meeting in England are still unable to agree on their available options to collectively repair the world economy. German Chancellor Angela Merkel's statement, "The issue is not spending even more, but to put in place a regulatory system to prevent the economic catastrophe that the world is experiencing from being repeated" makes eminently good sense.

But the regulatory system is a vital measure that can be implemented, once mutually agreed upon, once the various countries' stimulus packages have been put in place and their success evaluated, along with the International Monetary Fund's allocation of funding in the rescue of those without the ability to raise their own stimulus packages.

We've been forewarned, that however much we've already experienced in worrisome downturns, we haven't yet hit bottom, that "2009 is shaping up to be a very dangerous year". It ill behooves Canada's opposition parties, let alone the official opposition, to criticize the government rather than co-operating with it.