Jan 24, 2009 04:30 AM
David Olive
Toronto Star Business Columnist
As with all fads, we should be wary of the deficit chic that has turned the heads of even the most resolute deficit hawks. It will prompt the federal finance minister, Jim Flaherty, in his “stimulus” budget Tuesday to put Canada on the road to a $64 billion deficit over the next two years – surpassing the record $43 billion deficit of the early 1990s that Canadians sacrificed for years to eradicate.
And it’s unlikely to accomplish much. The main reason for this, I suspect, is that Canada is not in an economic crisis at all. Continue Reading »
Just like on the good old WWE grunt ’n groan Battles Royale of good vs. evil on TV Wrestling, we’ve got a knock down drag out tussle over our Canadian banks’ lending practices, at this time of financial stress and market illiquidity. It seems that the Canadian banks are not following the government’s script of cranking out bank loans to whatever customers come along, creditworthy or otherwise.
In the one corner is the tough guy team of Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney (do I hear a chorus of boos?). And in the other corner is the masked duo of the Rating Agencies (read S&P, Moody’s, DBRS), and the Regulators (read OSFI), both of whom believe in sound lending practices, and the banks’ fiduciary responsibility to its depositors. At stake in this morality play are nothing less than the banks’ independence in assessing risk, and the shareholders’ confidence in the responsible operation of the banks’ day to day lending activities. Continue Reading »
