PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOU CAN BE WITH US - IT MAKES THE CHAIRMAN'S JOB EASIER
Wednesday 11 July 2007 OTTAWA: CENTRAL BANK RATE UP
The Bank of Canada has raised its trend-setting lending rate by one-quarter of a percentage point to 4.5 per cent in the central bank's first increase of the rate for more than one year. The bank explained that the combination of stronger-than-expected economic growth and inflation dictated the increase. The central bank says it expects inflation to remain above its tolerated level of two per cent until early 2009, and that therefore another rate increase may be necessary on Sept. 5. The Bank of Canada says that its rate increases and the high Canadian dollar will slow economic growth to an average of 2.5 per cent in both 2008 and 2009.
11 July 2007
The Invitation
Last Wednesday brought a delightful surprise with the welcome return of Louise Guay,
President of My Virtual Model, after a very long absence. She shared
with us some of the exciting developments at MVM and news of the 2007 World Conference on Mass Customization & Personalization (MCPC) organized in collaboration with HEC and the MIT Media Lab.
Two Wednesday Nighters have brought to our attention
thought-provoking items (both from the Washington Post) which point to
the weakness of the Canadian partisan political system in the
government’s unwillingness/ inability to recruit the right person for a
job if that person belongs to the wrong party (or no party), and lack
of ability to think or consult outside the box on public policy and/or
international issues.
The first, sent by Sabra
Ledent, relates to Nicolas Sarkozy’s urging the International Monetary
Fund to name Dominique Strauss-Kahn as its managing director.
“There is no exact American metaphor, but imagine if Bush had pushed
for a prominent liberal Democrat — Al Gore or John Kerry
perhaps — to head the World Bank. Imagine further that the president
had seriously consulted with his political adversaries.”
With little effort we might replace President Bush’s name with Stephen
Harper, and the names of potential Canadian nominees to cabinet or
prestigious international posts.
In that respect, we admire Jean Charest’s naming of Lucien Bouchard and
Pierre Marc Johnson to head their respective commissions.
The second, thanks to Catherine Gillbert, is the piece by Walter Isaacson of the Aspen Institute
recalling the “burst of creativity” with which our leaders responded to
the threat of Soviet communism, resulting in the creation of the
Marshall Plan, the World Bank and IMF, and (particularly
interesting to us) revamped communications tools. This, the author
points out, is in sharp contrast to the lack of creative, consensual
approaches to the defeat of terrorism. While he calls on the U.S. Democratic presidential candidates to formulate their visions,
he might equally challenge many western leaders, not to mention the
UN, to address the threat of terrorism, along with climate
change, poverty and other global social issues - in the same spirit
that prevailed some sixty years ago.
Taken together, the two articles underline a great deal of what is
wrong in the way the world is being run today, whether at the highest
levels of government, public institutions, or organizations. Partly,
this can be blamed on the partisans (militants) who surround leaders
and fend off any and all who might introduce new and different ways of
thinking. Partly it must be blamed on those who, like the Great
Decider, believe they have little or nothing to learn from others, and
that their one goal in life is self-advancement as opposed to
contributing to the greater good (or who equate the two). We
therefore suggest that these two pieces be required reading for any and
all leaders and would-be leaders of government at all levels,
institutions such as hospitals (MUCH anyone?) and organizations who
propose to address any area of public policy.
Which brings us to more local topics that also show a sad lack of
“bursts of creativity” generated by consultation with all those
concerned (stakeholders). Shall we start with what appears to us to be
a wasteful decision on Canada’s new not-exactly-ice-breakers?
This will be an all-Canadian designed and built ship, although we
understand that the Finns and Norwegians build ships that could
have equally served our purpose. We have read that Canadian military
ships can only be built in Canada for security reasons, (so what about
the subs bought from Britain?) but why build in the additional design
delay - why not, if we want to keep our shipyards busy, build under
license? We, along with the Toronto Star
note the absence of any public cost/benefit analysis of the
billion-dollar purchase, thus will likely never know whether the Nordic
option was given a chance.
We could point to criticism of the latest plan from the Mayor of Montreal, this one the 20-year, $8.1-billion transportation plan
One cannot help but wonder who put this together and why they couldn’t
have consulted early with knowledgeable people outside the municipal
government. Of course, whenever we think of Montreal’s sins in this
respect, we come back to the Mega-merger and the apparent inability of
the politicians and bureaucrats to look at successful cities like
Boston which have achieved their success without feeling the need to
absorb the small surrounding municipalities. And that topic brings us
to the latest salvo fired at Montreal by no less than 3 organizers of
major annual events: The Grand Prix, Jazz and Just for Laughs
Festivals, all of whom are complaining that Montreal’s bloated
bureaucracy - and greed - make it ever harder to put on a good show. As
the Gazette’s Henry Aubin points out:
remember when the Bouchard government and Montreal’s Board of Trade
said the new megacity would produce a streamlined bureaucracy that
would minimize red tape. The enlarged city would naturally give rise to
strong political leadership. Only by merging, they said, could Montreal
Island become one of the 21st century’s dynamic cities. We rest our case.
On that note, we bid you good pondering and hope that you will share
your results with us, either in person or by message. We read all
e-mails with enthusiasm.
We look forward to your company.
Diana & David Nicholson
dtnicholson@wednesdaynight.net
Tel: +1 (514) 934-0023
Note
Wednesday Night creates charts and follows stocks, including timely related financial news items, in which Wednesday Nighters are interested and in order to demonstrate a service that could eventually be developed and marketed. Wednesday Nighters are invited to participate and help to test the service. see Wednesday-Night.com Flip charts
Wednesday 18 July 2007 A suicide bomber attacked a political rally in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, on Tuesday, killing 15 people.
12 July 2007 June sales: Not to worry
By Andy Dodge
Prices appeared to be easing off in the Westmount real estate market in June, but in fact they are still among the highest the city has ever seen, as volume remained strong moving into the summer months. The city saw 13 sales in June, including one over $3 million and five others between $1 and $2 million
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Core inflation should edge down a bit over the next year and a half, as inflation expectations remain contained, energy prices flatten out and pressures from the labor and product market diminish, Federal Reserve board chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday.
"Core inflation should edge a bit lower, on net, over the remainder of this year and next year," Bernanke said in prepared testimony to the House Financial Services Committee.
"If energy prices level off as currently anticipated, overall inflation should slow to a pace close to that of core inflation in coming quarters," Bernanke said.
Wednesday 18 July 2007 Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) announced yesterday that the C$500 million agreement to buy a stake in BCE Inc. (BCE) is within the bank's normal risk-taking appetite.
ECONOMIC NEWS
U.S CPI for June rose 0.2%. Excluding food and energy, core CPI rose 0.2%. Housing Starts rose 2.3% for June versus a decline of 3.4% in May. Building Permits for June fell 7.5%. Canadian CPI rose 2.2% in June, less than expected, as a strong currency may have kept a lid on import prices. The consumer price index rose at the same rate as in April and May amid softer costs for clothes and computers, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. The less volatile core rate, which the Bank of Canada uses to gage future inflation trends, rose 2.5 per cent, matching a four-year high.
goto pengrowth.com/ then Go to webcast multimedia under Index
Stephen S. Poloz VP EDC Economics Weekly Commentary China’s Trillion Dollar Nest Egg - April 4, 2007
China has now accumulated more than $1 trillion in foreign exchange reserves. Crossing this symbolic threshold has led many to underscore the destabilization potential of the situation.
First, how did this come about? China’s trade has expanded enormously. Imports have risen from $160 billion in 1999 to about $800 billion in 2006, exports from $200 billion to $950 billion. China’s current account surplus rose dramatically during 2005, as the government deliberately tried to slow domestic investment spending. China’s surplus for 2006 is estimated at over $200 billion – a big number, but far lower than the corresponding deficit in the U.S., at $857 billion. Past issues | his WN page
BBC
Robert Galbraith
Stephen S. Poloz
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