"Randy Zimmerman" wrote in message
news:YGrsb.376563$pl3.138131@pd7tw3no...

I see your point Ed but there are only 30 million of us up here. We try
our
damndest to spend our money before our government gets it but there is
only
so much amercian stuff our population could buy.

Haha! There are a lot of explanations for why Canada's economy is lagging
these days, but one fact that's hard to avoid is that you're still working
off a legacy of high tariffs from days gone by. At one point your import
duties led to the creating of entire industries of "mini-plants," including
car plants, 60% owned by foreigners, that duplicated plants in the US and
Europe. They were highly inefficient because they were too small.
Manufacturers around the world built those plants because they couldn't
export to Canada without facing high tariffs. But it raised your prices on
almost everything, and it depressed your growth. Canada feels these trade
problems acutely because the percentage of your economy that depends on
trade is much higher than that of the US.

It's being corrected. Your foreign ownership of plants is down to something
under 40%, I think, and it's falling. Since NAFTA, your plants have stopped
trying to be miniatures of US plants and have started specializing, taking
advantage of reduced trade barriers to produce fewer things in higher
volumes, with world-class efficiency. It looks good for Canada's economy
overall. I wouldn't be pessimistic about where your economy is going in the
long run. The trick is to live long enough to see the "long run." g

If it wasn't for the hassle at that border I would be buying stuff on
E-Bay all the time:')
Personally I would like the US to walk in and take over Western Canada.

Aack! Not on your life. It's too damned cold.

We
have nothing in common with Central Canada.

Well, the real United States (the original 13 states) sometimes seems to
have little in common with the Territories, too. g I'm aware of your
divisive problem with central and eastern Canada. I don't know what to say,
except that you need a real leader or two up there who can bring the country
together. You have too much common interest to let the competing interests
make a mess of it.

Interesting too that Eastern
provinces are exempt from this tariff barrier.

I don't know how it's split up. I do know that anything that has to do with
agriculture or timber is a total mess, tradewise, throughout the world. The
subsidies that Japan, the EU, and the US (not that Canada is exempt, but our
subsidies have more effect) have in place are astronomical and make a
complete mockery of "free" trade. But that's a legacy, too, one that's
causing no end of problems for the manufactured-products end of trade.

--
Ed Huntress
(remove "3" from email address for email reply)