Moonbox

A lot of that is just not enough people to do the work. The contractors offer dumb prices to people because they're already busy and don't need the work. If someone wants to grossly overpay they'll do it, otherwise they don't really care. Things like lumber are more expensive now, but that's not the main thing driving up costs. On a 2000 sq foot home in Ontario, lumber costs maybe bumped prices up by $60,000 per home, max. That's assuming folks are paying 2.5x the lumber cost that they did before 2020.

Actual violence, rather than just words would be more the bottom, but it can go even further than that. History has shown us what the actual bottom is, and we're not there yet.

This is how it ends, or just how it progresses? It's a race to the bottom.

The only thing they're deciding is whether or not they supply weapons to Ukraine. It's the Ukrainians who decide how long they fight, and whether they negotiate. As for the US, barring a potential Orange Man return in 1.5 years, the US is seeing its traditional foe humbled and humiliated for pennies on the dollar and without a drop of american bloodshed. 1.5 years from now, Russia is only going to be weaker, while Europe (who are even more interested in the conflict than the Americans) are re-arming and could pick up a lot of the slack.

The genius quote that keeps on delivering: 😉👌 Here's what's actually funny though: Nobody is reading these back-and-forth exchanges except for you and me. Your clueless natter and your bizarre performances aren't being observed. Endlessly trying to insist to people you're debating against that they're having hissy fits is a weird. They're just in your head, and it's a mystery who you think you're convincing. My guess? You're just trying to convince yourself. 😉

Your bizarre insistence on inventing and projecting temper tantrums and emotionality on others merely shows what's going on in your angry little head. Nobody said it was? Once again, you're making stuff up to argue with yourself. 🤣

Your compulsion for making things up and cluelessly blustering, more so. He admitted his predictions were wrong, and he explained why. That's it, and nobody here denied that. 🙃 What he didn't do, as you kept claiming, was say that he should have known better, or that he'd promised/guaranteed anything. The unfortunate thing for you is that I did not do any of the things you said I did, tongue in cheek or not. We can make it easy on you and just ask you to show just one of them. Show me where I blamed inflation on Harper. He was only mentioned two posts ago, so it should be pretty easy. Oops, you can't. Your pants are on fire. Tell me more about how I'm absolutely freaking out though...that's always good entertainment. 🥱

Wasn't me. 🤨 Power comes in different forms and from different places. Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are quite happy, I imagine, with how the capitalist system is working.

LOLOL indeed! No vanishing is required when you make it up and/or pretend something it's not! Your compulsion for bullshitting is once again on display. I rejected your characterization of borrowers and speculators as "victims", but I'm the one "crybabying"! 🤣 Oof. I never did anything of the sort. That bolded part? Absolutely, totally and utterly made-up nonsense. 1. I never denied what was said, but rather your dimwitted interpretation of it (ie the promises that you were never made). 2. I definitely never said the BoC doesn't set interest rates. You're making up arguments to debate against....again! 3. Where did I blame inflation on Harper? Once again, you're arguing with yourself. 🤡👌

Yep. It's not there! Nope, because what you're linking isn't what you're saying it is. 🤣 Then why are you complaining about what Tiff did or didn't promise? 🥴 If he promised, as you claim, and didn't keep that promise, then he lied, which would be the same with Harper.

Is that a rhetorical question? The answer is zero. 😔

Especially true in Canada. Good thing we gutted the CRA years ago. 🥴

I agree with it being wrong for Canada, but not necessarily wrong on its own. In a less geographically and/or ethnically diverse country (like we see in Europe) it can make more sense. As a giant country with huge geographical separation and wildly different priorities, it would be lousy. Make Canada PR and the country would be run by the Greater Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver areas, with the anything in between and outside of that having a greatly diminished voice.

It's even more questionable to assess the net-worth of dictators in police states, on account of the blurred distinction between the dictator's assets and the state's. Either way, I think talking about communism is pretty silly in this context.

If he literally did, then you could literally quote him apologizing, rather than just explaining what he got wrong. Worse, however, is your ridiculous claim that the said he should have known better, which is literally a lie. I claimed that you have a middle-school understanding of economics, and I was being generous. Any meaning beyond that is made up, so here you are again, arguing with yourself. 🤣 It doesn't matter. The BoC's mandate is to manage inflation, not the butthurt of angry dweebs. No doubt some people made decisions based on central banking guidance, but unless they're buffoons they did so knowing there were no guarantees. It's unfortunate, but not unfair. I remember debating with you some months ago about how you figured Stephen Harper never lied to Canadians. As an example of him doing so, I brought up the Income Trusts. Before he was elected PM, he claimed he'd not mess with Income Trusts. Shortly after being elected, he gutted them. According to you, that wasn't a lie. If we apply your logic to this argument, good 'ol Tiff is off the hook, but even more so because at least he made his claims with no knowledge of what 2022's economy would bring. Harper and his team had full access to all the info needed to assess Income Trusts. Once again, your clueless partisanship and hypocrisy is on full display. 👌

Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Berny Arnault, Warren Buffet, Jeff Bezos etc are the richest men in the world.

Your desperation is obvious, but all you've posted is his explanation of what he and the BoC got wrong, and you certainly can't provide any quotes saying he should have known better, as you ridiculously claimed. Nobody said they don't set interest rates. They just don't control global economics. They can't stop global commodity prices from spiking. They can't stop the USA from raising their interest rates. They can't stop China from closing down its economy etc. All of these things and more cause prices to rise, and they have to adjust accordingly. Stop...please. I just can't...🤣

Economics aren't a perfect science. They never have been, they never will be, and nobody ever has or ever will be able to make guarantees about anything. Macklem's language doesn't somehow change that, nor does your amusing attempt to redefine words. He didn't "promise" anything, nor did he "apologize" after the fact. He made forecasts, and acknowledged they turned out wrong, in hindsight. Your middleschool view of central banking guidance is cute, but dumb. If you took his statements as anything other than his prediction/intention, you're a fool. When the global supply chain broke down and when global commodity prices spiked after the Russian invasion, the Bank had to update their models and strategy. The alternative you're suggesting is that they let prices spiral out of control, watch our currency devalue as capital exits Canada to find more attractive rates in the US etc, and that we just pretend we're in a bubble or something. "YOu can't raise rates! You said they'd stay looooooow! 😭".

Yes, the consequences are humiliation and isolation. Saying the above and then following up with: is a contradiction. A status-quo end is the best that Putin can now hope for, and the Ukrainians aren't interested in a best-case outcome for sad Vlad.

Tiff Macklem promised nothing. He offered predictions and forecasts, based on available information, which is all an economist can ever do. Taking them as promises or guarantees is retarded, because the central bank can't control all of the factors of inflation. Central Banking policy can, and frequently does, get bowled over by global events they can't anticipate. That's why inflation was bad everywhere, and why nearly every central banker around world is dealing with the same partisan squawking you're offering here.

It was a question. I didn't need to know you. Aside from 10-5 being different than 5-1, the sudden increase is a dislocation, and while it's uncomfortable it's not something that could be avoided. Canada couldn't keep its rates low while global (read that again - GLOBAL) inflation spiked. You've never seen runaway inflation. Be glad the rates increased, otherwise you may have. Grasping at straws...yes that's a good description for what you're doing here. Your definition of "mistake" is as flimsy/awkward as your explanation of how promises work. 🙄

That's the same with the central banks. If they could stop inflation without it hurting anyone they would, but you can't have your cake and eat it too, but that seems to be what people expect. You were hardly out there singing the bank's praises when they were keeping rates low and making people "feel good", were you? The goal is to lower inflation. The means are to make it more expensive and unattractive to borrow and thus spend. Whether or not there is pain is a side effect. Waving your hands around and breaking down your made-up numbers further isn't good for much, I'm afraid. The only thing you listed above that I've ever seen any hard data on is the .5% carbon tax effect, much of which had already been accounted for from previous years. Where is the admission that they should have known better? Hate to tell you this, but that's not a promise, lol. If you knew anything about the Central Banks, you'd know that literally nothing they do or say can be taken as a promise, and they all have a long track record of having their predictions be wrong and having to later revise them - every single central bank ever. They can neither predict nor control events around the world, so if anyone took that as a promise or a guarantee, they're dumb-dumbs. 🤷‍♂️

Yes, probably - maybe in 2024 or 2025. It's still unlikely we'll get back to <3.00% mortgages. That was a gravy train that last longer than it should have - economic stimulus when we didn't need economic stimulus. Saying it's meant to hurt people is silly though. That's sort of like saying a personal trainer and a dietician are out to hurt a fatty. Sure, you might feel hungry, tired and sore, but you're going to be better for it after. The intention is to stop people gorging on cheap debt, which was driving prices up. Forgive me if I assume you just pulled that number out of your ass. The global numbers should disprove it if you weren't so blindly partisan about it. No, they admitted in hindsight they underestimated it. That's all. Which was only slightly off their original projections and within forecast range. The War in Ukraine, zero-COVID China, and continued brutal supply chain disruptions were all things the BoC had no control over nor could it anticipate. The Bank didn't promise anything, nor does it ever promise anything, because it doesn't control everything. Since when are folk so willing to believe what the government and the BoC says as Gospel? With logic like that, it's a wonder why fixed rates even exist. You should just be able to choose variable rates and take all of the benefits, without having to deal with the risks, is that right?

Central Bank rates, sure, but not mortgage rates. No, they're meant to decrease borrowing and thereby spending, so that demand drops and people don't have to deal with prices spiraling out of control, which is what really "hurts them". Trudeau's overspending didn't help inflation, but a quick look at global inflation numbers should dispel the myth that he's uniquely to blame for 2022's spike...if you didn't have Justin hate-goggles on. As for the BoC's forecasts, they couldn't predict the Ukraine war or China's disastrous zero-COVID policy. The folks who bought into variable rates at the absolute bottom of the rate cycle only have themselves to blame. The BoC doesn't promise anything, and it's never more than a best guess. Getting a variable rate mortgage when rates have only one direction to go is a bad gamble, and people who take risks often have to pay the price. The folks who got fixed rates in that very brief interim between the BoC's forecast and when rates started to spike are going to be fine, because they'll be renewing in 2025 or later. It's the folks swimming in revolving credit debt that are going to feel the rates the most. The only thing they're victims of is their own greed. Sure, and if Poilievre can stick to reasonable messaging and cut the demagoguery, he'll win. You don't get a lamer duck than Trudeau as an incumbent to run against. This has 1993 vibes.

He's not a pathological liar. He's just an angry, deluded fool. His critical thinking hat blew away when his train went off the rails, many years ago.