During the pandemic economic growth went negative. There was a covid "recession".
Inflation?
Although the recent inflation numbers are higher than what we have seen in quite sometime, I am puzzled by how some people are surprised by it. Many economists and posters here had predicted this increase due to all the money printing that took place during the pandemic. In some ways people have been warning about inflation since the end of the great recession. Regardless, the inflation has given me an opportunity to reassess my portfolio. Obviously, equities with no or low debt will be better off than those with higher debt to equity. Are any active investors making adjustments to the allocation or tilting their equity to certain sectors?
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You are wrong - again. You didn't have to prove 2,000$ loss in income over 4 weeks in order to receive 2,000$ from CERB.Um no........it replaced lost income.
If you filed for CERB and continued to work........the CRA would like to have a word with you.
CRA has shown that incomes when economy was stopped by government went up by 7.1% - 4,400 on average for 17.6mln tax filers. That is 77bln of extra income.
77bln wasted on CERB, over 90% of CEWS wasted, over 16bln increase in yearly cost of running government.
That is a huge chunk of money and significant portion of GDP wasted.
If you want to defend this government, inflation, economy, and fiscal policy is really not a topic you can do it on - objectively their level of sucking reached historic proportions
I can see why you are so mixed up.
I think CERB was a good program. When the pandemic first started, I was trapped in quarantine and couldn't do any work (and none of my coworkers were responding... work had halted due to the pandemic). My consulting income completely stopped due to the pandemic.If you want to defend this government, inflation, economy, and fiscal policy is really not a topic you can do it on - objectively their level of sucking reached historic proportions
So I filed for CERB and I got the payment within a few days. That was really nice. I only filed once for CERB, but for others facing longer interruptions this was a life-saver for sure.
Great job by the Liberal government and the Trudeau team.
You are using an anecdote to judge country-wide program.I think CERB was a good program. When the pandemic first started, I was trapped in quarantine and couldn't do any work (and none of my coworkers were responding... work had halted due to the pandemic). My consulting income completely stopped due to the pandemic.
So I filed for CERB and I got the payment within a few days. That was really nice. I only filed once for CERB, but for others facing longer interruptions this was a life-saver for sure.
Great job by the Liberal government and the Trudeau team.
Yes, temporary income replacement is a good idea if you have government shutting down economy.
The statistics show though that CERB went beyond that - over 77bln beyond that.
77bln is amount of EXTRA income, not replaced income
CERB was trash.
It was abused and misused.
It was abused and misused.
I was opposed to CERB as a no-strings grant. It should have been a loan. It was only to help people keep liquid and not default on their obligations and be able to feed themselves. I would have been open to it being forgivable after the fact. But many people did not really need CERB.
And many people who needed CERB didn't qualify.I was opposed to CERB as a no-strings grant. It should have been a loan. It was only to help people keep liquid and not default on their obligations and be able to feed themselves. I would have been open to it being forgivable after the fact. But many people did not really need CERB.
Because of the suddenness of the crisis I think it should have been universal.
I think it's a policy debate on if it should have been
1. A handout
2. a loan.
3. a conditionally forgivable loan.
Some of the people who needed it most desperately, aren't able to pay it back anyway.
The government could have given the CERB to everyone and then clawed it back the next year above a threshold of income for the year.
But.....there would have been plenty of people complaining that it was going to people who "didn't need it" because they don't understand how clawbacks work.
I still maintain the bulk of the "extra" savings for people came from not paying their bills. They deferred rents, mortgages, loans, credit cards, car payments etc.
Plus if the parents were home they didn't have to pay daycare, fuel to commute, sports fees for their kids, and other work expenses.
Covid restrictions basically created a situation forcing people to "live within their means" because they had nowhere to spend their money.
Well, they did spend money shopping online, and paying for Netflix.....but that appears to have tapered off considerably.
It is no wonder people ended up with extra money.
But.....there would have been plenty of people complaining that it was going to people who "didn't need it" because they don't understand how clawbacks work.
I still maintain the bulk of the "extra" savings for people came from not paying their bills. They deferred rents, mortgages, loans, credit cards, car payments etc.
Plus if the parents were home they didn't have to pay daycare, fuel to commute, sports fees for their kids, and other work expenses.
Covid restrictions basically created a situation forcing people to "live within their means" because they had nowhere to spend their money.
Well, they did spend money shopping online, and paying for Netflix.....but that appears to have tapered off considerably.
It is no wonder people ended up with extra money.
No one talking about the 7.7% inflation? Expectations were 7.4%...
Not a big deal in the increase.......but the trend is worrisome.
Big cost of living increases to government benefits, perhaps record setting increases. (I don't know if government benefits were indexed back in the day)
Of course, they increase government spending. Fortunately, they should have surplus income to pay the increases without adding more debt.
Companies in private industry will struggle to provide sufficient wage increases to their workers to counter inflation, and most won't.
With more interest rate hikes coming, I am thinking the government needs to consider a termporary inflation benefit or low and middle income tax relief.
A recession is already knocking on the door, and the government has some fiscal tools they can deploy to offset how severe it might become.
Big cost of living increases to government benefits, perhaps record setting increases. (I don't know if government benefits were indexed back in the day)
Of course, they increase government spending. Fortunately, they should have surplus income to pay the increases without adding more debt.
Companies in private industry will struggle to provide sufficient wage increases to their workers to counter inflation, and most won't.
With more interest rate hikes coming, I am thinking the government needs to consider a termporary inflation benefit or low and middle income tax relief.
A recession is already knocking on the door, and the government has some fiscal tools they can deploy to offset how severe it might become.
Commented on the rates thread.
The "transitory" inflation is going to continue for a while, because there is a whole lot of inflationary pressures.No one talking about the 7.7% inflation? Expectations were 7.4%...
This wasn't caused by only interest rates, and won't be solved by only interest rates.
You can't double the price of gas and expect the cost of goods to stay flat.
FYI, with inflation like this, this could be the first year of home ownership where property tax will increase by LESS than inflation. I'm sure we'll catch up next year.
FYI, with inflation like this, this could be the first year of home ownership where property tax will increase by LESS than inflation. I'm sure we'll catch up next year.
Yea, but just look how nice our downtown looks now......LOL
Yea, but just look how nice our downtown looks now......LOL
What are you talking about Sags?FYI, with inflation like this, this could be the first year of home ownership where property tax will increase by LESS than inflation. I'm sure we'll catch up next year.
Yea, but just look how nice our downtown looks now......LOL
Downtown London is infested with bums, panhandlers, and drug addicts!
It may well have saved the country from falling into a severe recession.CERB was trash.
It was abused and misused.
That is what I mean.....the city developed an inviting gathering place for them.......municipal taxes well spent..........not.What are you talking about Sags?
Downtown London is infested with bums, panhandlers, and drug addicts!
It instead pushed it into stagflation - yayIt may well have saved the country from falling into a severe recession.
Who says we aren't still headed that way?It may well have saved the country from falling into a severe recession.
Maybe we are, but nobody can predict the future and anyone who says they can with 100% precision is a liar.
Everyone in economics agrees we are entering uncharted territory. They don't know what lies beneath the waves.
Beware the Kraken !
Everyone in economics agrees we are entering uncharted territory. They don't know what lies beneath the waves.
Beware the Kraken !
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