If the Canadian Economy is doing so well why is the Dollar doing so po

[msj]

come back smarter...

One can only hope.

And no smiley face - I'm serious.

[William Ashley]

Ok first off I'm guessing you all are going to say, but of course the Cad is doing well, it is almost worth as much as the mighty US dollar.

One thing I havn't really heard is how poorly the Canadian dollar really is performing, the government is practically dumping money down the drain just to keep it lower than the USD it seems.

Arguments on this one welcome

I'm offline for a month so won't be able to respond to any of my posts or replies but I leave you with this

http://www.forecast-chart.com/usd-chinese-yuan.html

It ain't doing well...

Edited November 17, 2010 by William Ashley

[M.Dancer]

I'm offline for a month so won't be able to respond to any of my posts or replies but I leave you with this

come back smarter...

[Topaz]

If you listen to the Tories they always say our economy is doing better than the US's and other countries. Well, guys, the US has 14 Trillion national debt, so of course if you compare Canada to the US, we are doing better but for how long?

[Evening Star]

If you listen to the Tories they always say our economy is doing better than the US's and other countries. Well, guys, the US has 14 Trillion national debt, so of course if you compare Canada to the US, we are doing better but for how long?

I was surprised that Canada's debt-to-GDP ratio actually seems to be much worse than America's: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2186rank.html

[wyly]

If you listen to the Tories they always say our economy is doing better than the US's and other countries. Well, guys, the US has 14 Trillion national debt, so of course if you compare Canada to the US, we are doing better but for how long?

I read another viewpoint by some expert that claims the true US debt is hidden, he claims it's 200 trillion...I don't know if he's right or how he calculated it but if plausible that it's not discussed because acknowledging it would bring down the entire global market...

[wyly]

Ok first off I'm guessing you all are going to say, but of course the Cad is doing well, it is almost worth as much as the mighty US dollar.

One thing I havn't really heard is how poorly the Canadian dollar really is performing, the government is practically dumping money down the drain just to keep it lower than the USD it seems.

Arguments on this one welcome

I'm offline for a month so won't be able to respond to any of my posts or replies but I leave you with this

http://www.forecast-chart.com/usd-chinese-yuan.html

It ain't doing well...

our dollar is not doing well or the US is not doing well? I was under the assumption our dollar wasn't rising but it was the US dollar dropping...either way it's not good for our economy...

[Wilber]

our dollar is not doing well or the US is not doing well? I was under the assumption our dollar wasn't rising but it was the US dollar dropping...either way it's not good for our economy...

And yet our rising trade deficit is being blamed on our high dollar.

[bush_cheney2004]

I read another viewpoint by some expert that claims the true US debt is hidden, he claims it's 200 trillion...I don't know if he's right or how he calculated it but if plausible that it's not discussed because acknowledging it would bring down the entire global market...

...and I read somewhere that the true US debt is like 200 bazillion....and one cent.

$200,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.01

[From another nation in Canada]

I was surprised that Canada's debt-to-GDP ratio actually seems to be much worse than America's: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2186rank.html

This entry records the cumulative total of all government borrowings less repayments that are denominated in a country's home currency.

I believe the US has numerous loans (bad loans) to other countries in the Cold War. All bailout packages are counted as repayments as well.

Plus, the debt includes ALL government (Federal/Provincial/Municipal) debt in the country.

[eyeball]

Note to economic engineers; next time install a reset button.

[Smallc]

I was surprised that Canada's debt-to-GDP ratio actually seems to be much worse than America's: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2186rank.html

Those CIA numbers are....odd. Other sources provide better information on this subject.

[Evening Star]

Which would you recommend?

[Smallc]

Which would you recommend?

I know the IMF has good numbers for total government debt (though I don't know where you can access it other than news articles). They have Canada at 70% and the US at 98%. National and federal government debt is harder to find, and I can't remember where I found it, but the US is at about 70% and Canada is at about 30%. That is the debt that matters a great deal, and so that's why Canada is doing well.

[msj]

Those CIA numbers are....odd. Other sources provide better information on this subject.

Not odd at all. It's looking at total federal, provincial, municipal and other government entity debt.

That is, total public debt.

Also see: World debt comparison

[Smallc]

Not odd at all. It's looking at total federal, provincial, municipal and other government entity debt.

That is, total public debt.

Also see: World debt comparison

The US level, and the fact that it went down from one year to the next, is very odd. As I said, the IMF numbers are a much better indicator of the true total debt load. Those numbers from the economist don't seem to reflect the current situations in places like Greece, and it overestimates Canada's total debt load by about 10% (it looks like the CIA numbers)...while underestimating the US debt load (the federal government owes that much on its own).

Edited November 19, 2010 by Smallc

[wyly]

And yet our rising trade deficit is being blamed on our high dollar.

you could be right, I dunno...does anyone know? I hear the financial analysts on tv and read their opinions in the paper and they seem to be on opposite view points on every issue. who do we believe...

[wyly]

The US level, and the fact that it went down from one year to the next, is very odd. As I said, the IMF numbers are a much better indicator of the true total debt load. Those numbers from the economist don't seem to reflect the current situations in places like Greece, and it overestimates Canada's total debt load by about 10% (it looks like the CIA numbers)...while underestimating the US debt load (the federal government owes that much on its own).

which leads me to believe governments lie to us regularly as to our true economic standing...

[Wilber]

you could be right, I dunno...does anyone know? I hear the financial analysts on tv and read their opinions in the paper and they seem to be on opposite view points on every issue. who do we believe...

A high Canadian dollar makes our exports more expensive and imports cheaper so we sell less and buy more. It also makes it cheaper for Canadians to travel abroad and more expensive for tourists to come here. That much is obvious but we will have to wait and see how it effects the economy over the long term.

[Smallc]

which leads me to believe governments lie to us regularly as to our true economic standing...

Governments aren't the only ones that say Canadian governments (outside of Quebec) don't have a debt problem.

[msj]

The US level, and the fact that it went down from one year to the next, is very odd. As I said, the IMF numbers are a much better indicator of the true total debt load. Those numbers from the economist don't seem to reflect the current situations in places like Greece, and it overestimates Canada's total debt load by about 10% (it looks like the CIA numbers)...while underestimating the US debt load (the federal government owes that much on its own).

I suspect the difference for the US numbers is due to a misunderstanding between using gross debt and net debt but I know one guy (Mish) is looking into it so maybe we will get a clearer picture in a few days.

I disagree with you about Greece - even the IMF puts them at around 115% of GDP for 2009 (the Economist is at 117%). Although, who knows with those Greeks?

That's the funny thing - people don't seem to realize that if it was as simple as comparing debt to GDP then Japan would be the basket case and the PIIGS would be middling.

There are other reasons why some countries can go into debt while others can't.

[dre]

I suspect the difference for the US numbers is due to a misunderstanding between using gross debt and net debt but I know one guy (Mish) is looking into it so maybe we will get a clearer picture in a few days.

I disagree with you about Greece - even the IMF puts them at around 115% of GDP for 2009 (the Economist is at 117%). Although, who knows with those Greeks?

That's the funny thing - people don't seem to realize that if it was as simple as comparing debt to GDP then Japan would be the basket case and the PIIGS would be middling.

There are other reasons why some countries can go into debt while others can't.

A better comparison than DEBT TO GDP would be DEBT TO TOTAL GOVERNMENT REVENUE. Regardless of what your GDP is debt maintenance has to come from a governments budget.

In the real word people and companies ability to finance debt is based on CASHFLOW. Theyre ability to make payments... Its not based on their gross sales.

[wyly]

A high Canadian dollar makes our exports more expensive and imports cheaper so we sell less and buy more. It also makes it cheaper for Canadians to travel abroad and more expensive for tourists to come here. That much is obvious but we will have to wait and see how it effects the economy over the long term.

ya I understand that...but all to often I'll hear one economist saying things are improving and another saying just the opposite, I don't know who to believe...

[Argus]

A high Canadian dollar makes our exports more expensive and imports cheaper so we sell less and buy more. It also makes it cheaper for Canadians to travel abroad and more expensive for tourists to come here. That much is obvious but we will have to wait and see how it effects the economy over the long term.

It also hurts exporters. There was a time, oh ten years or so back... when one us dollar got you about a buck and a half Canadian. As someone who receives monthly cheques in US dollars the difference between what I would be getting if the exchange rate is as it was ten years ago amounts to about $2500 per month. You better believe that hurts every Canadian business which sells to the US, and they can't really raise their prices to compensate either without losing sales to American producers.

[Evening Star]

It always seems to be taken as a good sign for the US or UK when their currencies are worth more though, doesn't it? Why is it so different? (A high Cdn $ is good for me in any case.)

It seems kind of incredible that different sources could provide such widely varying figures for the same countries' public debt-to-GDP ratios.