tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180592942896724433.post4441572451148355774..comments2023-12-13T05:02:37.426-05:00Comments on Pushed to the Left and Loving It: The Story of AIG and the Canadian GovernmentEmily Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08354341672810615468noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180592942896724433.post-67539134828544862062012-04-26T16:31:34.421-04:002012-04-26T16:31:34.421-04:00What Flaherty's doing is criminal you say? I&#...What Flaherty's doing is criminal you say? I'd say when Paul Martin stole a big chunk of the people's money from the retirement fund with which to help balance his budget that was the worst thing done in the last 20 years, yet apparently they get to do that legally, so don't kid yourself, nobody's going to charge Flaherty for anything for what he's done.<br /><br />As for Ontario's situation you'll have to blame your precious Bob Rae for that one, it's been a big mess since then, one which nobody so far has been able to do anything about other than throw a big sheet over and spray a little Lysol on.<br /><br />That's what you get when you have a province full of socialists. Even if you try to do something to fix the problem, they always just scream and yell at you, because they only want someone else's subsidies to be cut, not their own. Ontario used to be the financially strongest province, but their time is over, it's Alberta's time now. It seems their leaders are making the same mistakes that Ontario was making in the 70s though, so it probably won't last too long either. Oh well, our society was nice while it lasted, but as usual, the 350 year cycle of nations usually ends with a collapse brought about by socialism and the welfare state.RedScourgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12486967516525595191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180592942896724433.post-42222227804378232722011-01-03T12:10:47.097-05:002011-01-03T12:10:47.097-05:00When my aunt dies in the mid 1990 I inherited a la...When my aunt dies in the mid 1990 I inherited a large sum of money and stocks. The oil stocks I got rid of real quick (at a loss) but my conscience felt good) and the second was AIG, which I sold a year later. The money that I didn't lose on AIG more than made up for any losses on the pipeline stock..which proved to me if you don't believe in the company don't support them by owning their stock...money can't buy happiness...Great read as usual EmilyBarb Millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12121651778728700321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180592942896724433.post-61743821795279238782011-01-03T11:47:48.945-05:002011-01-03T11:47:48.945-05:00How could CP not know this, Emily? I'm shocked...How could CP not know this, Emily? I'm shocked. I remember when CP was trustworthy - if a story came over the CP wire, it was good to go.<br />And the Liberals going "along with the charade" so they won't be perceived as responsible for the crash of the housing market?<br />O Canada, I hope 2011 sees some responsibility in Ottawa.Kay L. Davieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09966266404058177742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180592942896724433.post-28351148774656347972011-01-03T11:04:48.711-05:002011-01-03T11:04:48.711-05:00Let’s review a few current events you may have hea...Let’s review a few current events you may have heard of. Like 50,000 students marching in London yesterday, trashing buildings, protesting an austerity budget in Britain which will triple tuitions. And, of course, help diddle the middle class as that country tries to stave off a deficit hell. In Ireland, rumours the IMF will be rolling in any day helped drive national bond yields to a stunning 8.76%, or a premium of more than 6% over similar German bonds. At that price, Ireland can’t even afford to issue any.<br /><br />In Washington Obama’s blue-ribbon panel on how to rescue America has proposed $3.8 trillion (yeah, with a ‘t’) in spending cuts. It would hack payments to those useless old people (seniors, as they’re known) and the unproductive slackers in society (called the sick), as well as ending mortgage-interest deductibility – guaranteed to make the housing crisis last forever.<br /><br />Capital gains would no longer get a tax break (bye-bye stock market), child care would get no break and the retirement age (for reduced benefits) would eventually soar to 69 years. “This country’s out of money and we better start thinking,” said the commission’s head. “Without tough choices, we’re on the most predictable path toward an economic crisis that I can imagine.”<br /><br />In Canada the prime minister announced days ago he’s going on a listening tour across the country before we get a ‘tough love’ budget from the elfish little heartthrob, F. Recently, as you know, sixteen million Canadians just got HST’d, while a few million others had their sales tax rates increased. The government will spend $55 billion this year it doesn’t have, much of it on stimulus programs which seem not to have worked.<br /><br />Households here are the most indebted ever. Mortgage loans now total over a trillion dollars. Canadians used their houses like ATMs last year, taking out $41 billion, much of it to live on and pay debts. We owe $1.46 for every dollar earned. And, by the way, has your salary increased lately?<br /><br />Welcome to the next few years. Deflation will lick at our heels, our jobs and our houses. The US Fed can spend all the money it wants, but it will likely just make the situation worse – deepening debt without firing up the North American economy. It’s a world in which the last thing smart investors will do is make a single bet – on stocks, on houses or on gold. This is the time for defensive moves, a balanced mix of assets, tax avoidance and liquidity.<br /><br />Maybe it’s not the time to be flogging a $457,000 house for $624,900.<br /><br />But, like I said, most people don’t get it. They think inflation. Can’t fathom what’s coming. Don’t understand the wealth destruction to occur.<br /><br />They challenge me all the time on this, pointing to continued high real estate values as proof my best-before date was decades ago. Of course it was. Ask my wife. But that won’t change what I’ve told you many times – falling sales levels are far more telling than eroding prices. It’s all you need to know.<br /><br />But wait, here’s Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman, writing in the New York Times. He just plagiarized me:<br /><br />“So the news that the U.S. housing bubble is over won’t come in the form of plunging prices; it will come in the form of falling sales and rising inventory, as sellers try to get prices that buyers are no longer willing to pay. And the process may already have started.”<br /><br />Actually, he wrote that in 2005. Learn history. Or repeat it.<br /><br />http://www.greaterfool.ca/2010/11/10/duh-2/Nadine Lumleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05591663475427502169noreply@blogger.com