Milennials

[BC_chick]

I would have respected them if it didn't become blatantly evident that the reason they weren't spending was because they had no opposition to threaten them in the polls and wanted to keep the money available for big campaign promises when they did face a threat. Note that as soon as the Tories and Alliance merged and the Liberals did face opposition the money taps were turned on high and all the spending room in the budget was immediately used up. Had Martin won the election his many costly promises would have taken us back into deficit.

You're free to speculate all you want about their 'real' intentions and not respect them for what they may have done if re-elected, but you can't dispute that they were the most fiscally responsible government we've had in recent history.

[Michael Hardner]

Thread is drifting... nobody has mentioned 'milennials' since Friday.

[dre]

I would have respected them if it didn't become blatantly evident that the reason they weren't spending was because they had no opposition to threaten them in the polls and wanted to keep the money available for big campaign promises when they did face a threat. Note that as soon as the Tories and Alliance merged and the Liberals did face opposition the money taps were turned on high and all the spending room in the budget was immediately used up. Had Martin won the election his many costly promises would have taken us back into deficit.

Governments are victims of economic circumstances. If you look at the period that the liberals paid down debt the entire western world also was reducing deficits.

For example, you can see the growth in US debt flatten out at the same time... See that little hump?

Or the the UK's

It was easy for governments to do this during the nineties. There was a gigantic global tech boom. That doesn't mean Chretien and Martin shouldn't get some credit, but like I said.... The government does not make the economy it is at the mercy of it. Those governments were lucky to be in control at the right time. They didn't create the tech boom... that was the result of governments before them investing in technology research, and innovation in the private sector.

Harper and Justin don't (didn't) have that luxury. They are in control during a period of weak economic growth and an economy propped up by debt instead of productivity, and a services sector that's riding on a real property bubble. An economic house of cards.

In the age of character politics everyone loves to quibble about government economic policy and left vs right, etc. But the reality is the government are tiny bit players in the economy. Central banking policy is a much bigger factor, and global economic conditions are even bigger.

Chretien, Harper, Martin, Clinton, etc, all surround themselves with the best advisors they can and they all want a strong economy. But like I said for the most part they have a wish and a prayer.

Also government policy has a huge lag factor. Bryan Mulroney and Ronald Reagan have a lot more to do with the state of our economy today than Harper, or Justin, or Obama, or Martin.

Edited October 5, 2016 by dre

[?Impact]

If you look at the period that the liberals paid down debt the entire western world also was reducing deficits.

Reducing deficits is not paying down debt.

Back to millennials, the thread is exhausted because the OP was just another "kids today" intergenerational gripe session. Time and time again, youth grow up and contribute to society. Then half of them get old and lazy, and whine about how hard they had it in the good old days.

[dre]

Reducing deficits is not paying down debt.

Back to millennials, the thread is exhausted because the OP was just another "kids today" intergenerational gripe session. Time and time again, youth grow up and contribute to society. Then half of them get old and lazy, and whine about how hard they had it in the good old days.

The point is that in the 90's almost every western country improved its position in terms of debt. And debt is re-payed if deficits are reduced below the rate of inflation. Chretien and Martin were not necessarily economic geniuses. They were in control when there was a massive economic boom. Revenues went way up... they could afford to stop borrowing.

Harper never could have done that. He faced a recession and a soft economy and under the existing economic model when the economy softens governments try to dump synthetic money on it to stoke things back up again. All governments do this, both liberal and conservative. When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

I'm not a Harper fan but I believe he wanted a strong economy, surrounded himself with smart people (probably the exact same people that the liberal government surrounds themselves with) and did what he thought was right. But like I said... the government does not make an economy... economies are driven primarily by people around the world wanting, and buying services and products from each other. The economy would exist even if government didn't. We had thriving economies even before there was strong central governments, and even before there was modern money.

Economies are backed by the participants ability to produce products and services, and their desire to take the value generated by those products and services, and buy products and services for others. Period. Government policy is a bit player. Taxation is a bit player. Monetary policy is a bit player too, but a bigger one. Conservative VS Liberal policy is almost a complete non-factor.

[Smoke]

Reducing deficits is not paying down debt.

Back to millennials, the thread is exhausted because the OP was just another "kids today" intergenerational gripe session. Time and time again, youth grow up and contribute to society. Then half of them get old and lazy, and whine about how hard they had it in the good old days.

What an ignorant statement!

[RB]

On ‎2016‎-‎09‎-‎24 at 10:30 PM, Cum Laude said:

If you stop and think about it, Millenials come in two flavors. The first flavor are those who avoid work altogether and live in their parents basement. The second flavor are those who do not feel the need or see it as at all appropriate that they start out working in the warehouse. These millenials are entitled and feel they are destined for upper management and they think they deserve to be made into upper management their first day on the job. Consequently they would quit after their first day before they could learn the difference.

 

I am having some current experience with Millennials.  Here is a real scenario, high school graduate who is defiant, prefers to be homeless and wants to communicate with like minded people of his/her caliber e.g. scientist. Let's say this person is supplemented by OW.  Whether the person thought of the remoteness of connecting with a scientist to stay on OW, I am not sure.  I am open to young genius abilities.  However this was not one of them.  And so just in case I did make a mistake in my initial assessment, I actually sent them off to visit some scientist that worked at CERN and Canada arm.   At time point my only hope is that I might have made a difference.  Yep.