3 ms·

Those are some pretty depressing charts. It's actually somewhat surreal that we pay $0.75CAD to $1 USD these days, since as I recall several years ago the CAD w

Those are some pretty depressing charts. It's actually somewhat surreal that we pay $0.75CAD to $1 USD these days, since as I recall several years ago the CAD was actually around the same as USD (even higher at one point). Also, let's not forget the terrible domestic policies Harper has had, not just economic. Bill C-51 comes to mind. If you view the Wikipedia page on it, you can see how a couple of deaths loosely related to "terrorism" (just a lone maniac with a gun, really) was used to drum up fear and ram through sweeping new powers to various agencies. All at the expense of the privacy of the average citizen of course. I'll be quite surprised if Harper gains another term. But with 2 left-leaning parties splitting the vote, anything can happen.

tempestn 11y ago
I agree that the charts are unfortunate. (Also with your stance on C-51 FWIW.) I wouldn't necessarily agree that the reduction in the CAD/USD recently is a symptom of poor policy though. For one thing, the CAD has remained more stable compared to most other currencies; it's mostly that the USD has gained, likely due to its status as the 'safe' reserve currency. For another, a lower dollar isn't necessarily objectively 'bad'. Yes, it reduces the Canadian GDP as measured in USD (as per that one chart), but that doesn't necessarily translate into a reduced average quality of life for Canadians. (It's good for some, bad for others, and probably not hugely impactful for most.)
- moonshinefe 11y ago
  I agree with your points. I guess personally, I just noticed the dollar being low in particular when making online purchases. For instance on eBay, a lot of the listings are often US sellers that are just shipping to Canada. The dollar difference is extremely noticeable when it converts the currency at that point and it's turned me off of buying off eBay as much in recent history. But if you're buying / selling within the country, the prices haven't gone too crazy, you're right.
  - tempestn 11y ago
    On the flip side, my income comes primarily from online sales and advertising, mostly to US companies, which means a lower CAD is great for me. We're a microcosm of importers vs exporters. Most people probably don't do a lot of either. As for those who do... although increased cost of online purchases must directly affect more people than increased demand and income for exports, when you consider higher-order effects I suspect it could go either way. (Certainly all you ever hear in the news when the dollar moves significantly is how it's good for manufacturers but bad for importers.)
- Steko 11y ago
  CAD has a very high correlation with oil prices, according to [1] it's 0.78. [1] http://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/021315/how-why-oil-impacts-canadian-dollar-cad.asp http://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/021315/how-wh...
  - tempestn 11y ago
    Thank you, yes, another great point. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean a lower CAD isn't 'bad', but it does suggest it isn't really the government's fault. (Unless you feel the government should be working harder to reduce that correlation (and more generally the economy's reliance on natural resources).)

tempestn 11y ago

I agree that the charts are unfortunate. (Also with your stance on C-51 FWIW.) I wouldn't necessarily agree that the reduction in the CAD/USD recently is a symptom of poor policy though. For one thing, the CAD has remained more stable compared to most other currencies; it's mostly that the USD has gained, likely due to its status as the 'safe' reserve currency. For another, a lower dollar isn't necessarily objectively 'bad'. Yes, it reduces the Canadian GDP as measured in USD (as per that one chart), but that doesn't necessarily translate into a reduced average quality of life for Canadians. (It's good for some, bad for others, and probably not hugely impactful for most.)

moonshinefe 11y ago
I agree with your points. I guess personally, I just noticed the dollar being low in particular when making online purchases. For instance on eBay, a lot of the listings are often US sellers that are just shipping to Canada. The dollar difference is extremely noticeable when it converts the currency at that point and it's turned me off of buying off eBay as much in recent history. But if you're buying / selling within the country, the prices haven't gone too crazy, you're right.
- tempestn 11y ago
  On the flip side, my income comes primarily from online sales and advertising, mostly to US companies, which means a lower CAD is great for me. We're a microcosm of importers vs exporters. Most people probably don't do a lot of either. As for those who do... although increased cost of online purchases must directly affect more people than increased demand and income for exports, when you consider higher-order effects I suspect it could go either way. (Certainly all you ever hear in the news when the dollar moves significantly is how it's good for manufacturers but bad for importers.)
Steko 11y ago
CAD has a very high correlation with oil prices, according to [1] it's 0.78. [1] http://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/021315/how-why-oil-impacts-canadian-dollar-cad.asp http://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/021315/how-wh...
- tempestn 11y ago
  Thank you, yes, another great point. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean a lower CAD isn't 'bad', but it does suggest it isn't really the government's fault. (Unless you feel the government should be working harder to reduce that correlation (and more generally the economy's reliance on natural resources).)