Except the United States. Isn't that a Canadian value? When it has to do with economic growth then it is nothing to be proud of. (Hat-tip Norman's Spectator)
..."The world economy has definitely slowed, and now we're part of it," said Don Drummond, chief economist at Toronto-Dominion Bank.
"It's putting us more in line with the rest of the world, except the United States."
The lower growth rate will also bite into Ottawa's projected revenue, with one economist predicting that the federal surplus will be cut by half.
...Economists said the U.S. economy now stands alone among large industrialized economies in that it is enjoying robust growth, spurred by low interest rates and personal income tax cuts. The U.S. economy grew by 3.8 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2004 on an annualized basis.
Many other large economies, such as Japan's and Germany's, have seen their growth rates step back in recent months, and Canada has now joined that group, in large part because of a surging Canadian dollar.
The above points to the other way that Canada is in lock-step with the multi-lateralists, taxation. The United States is going it alone on lower taxes and this, combined with a lower dollar, seems to be working out quite nicely. The EU wanted to be a counter-balance to the US and the Euro was to be (and is) an alternative to the US Dollar. With their harmonizing of higher taxes and a strong Euro the European economy is hitting a bit of a rough patch.
I remember hearing an interview with former Prime Minister John Turner where he said that the only reason that free-trade has worked for Canada is our low dollar. Now since he was opposed to free-trade he has to say that but the low dollar did allow our industries to develop bad habits. This is going to have to change.
