Oil subsidies and free trade.
Fast and furious: Canada's economy skidding from top of G7 to bottom
It’s amazing how fast you can go from first to worst, hero to zero, bruiser to loser.
Or, in this case, from G1 to G7.
Remember how well Canada emerged from the financial crisis and Great Recession? Indeed, it led the Group of Seven industrialized nations two years ago, before the collapse in oil prices.
Now, according to the latest forecasts from Bank of Nova Scotia, it is set to trail the Group of Seven industrialized nations in economic growth this year.
“We came out of the last recession faster and stronger, but that has waned,” said Scotiabank deputy chief economist Aron Gampel.
Scotiabank projects Canada’s economy will expand by just 1.1 per cent this year, in line with some other forecasts that differ only slightly.
That will be at the bottom end of the G7 countries, the bank said, calling for economic growth of 2.2 per cent in the United States, 2 per cent in Britain, 1.8 per cent in Germany and 1.3 per cent in France.
Of course, Canada’s performance is one of a regional divide amid the hit to the oil provinces.
Ontario, Manitoba, British Columbia and Quebec are “actually holding their own,” Mr. Gampel said.
As fourth-quarter and annual results continue to pour in, the collapse in crude prices is taking an ever-mounting toll on energy companies around the world.
Today, Royal Dutch Shell posted its worst full-year results in more than a decade, warning, too, of further cuts.
“In the last year, the company has taken writedowns in excess of $7-billion on its operations in Alaska, Ukraine, as well as the Carmon Creek tar sands venture in Canada as it looks to dispose of non-core assets and looks to take on Exxon Mobil in the liquefied natural gas space,” said CMC’s Mr. Hewson.
“Along with the other oil majors, the main focus of concern is the dividend policy, as well as the risks of cutting expenditures too deep, and in the process curtailing its ability to react quickly to a turnaround in the oil price, as the supply and demand dynamics shift away from the current glut.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repo...ids-from-top-of-g7-to-bottom/article28533512/
Fast and furious: Canada's economy skidding from top of G7 to bottom
It’s amazing how fast you can go from first to worst, hero to zero, bruiser to loser.
Or, in this case, from G1 to G7.
Remember how well Canada emerged from the financial crisis and Great Recession? Indeed, it led the Group of Seven industrialized nations two years ago, before the collapse in oil prices.
Now, according to the latest forecasts from Bank of Nova Scotia, it is set to trail the Group of Seven industrialized nations in economic growth this year.
“We came out of the last recession faster and stronger, but that has waned,” said Scotiabank deputy chief economist Aron Gampel.
Scotiabank projects Canada’s economy will expand by just 1.1 per cent this year, in line with some other forecasts that differ only slightly.
That will be at the bottom end of the G7 countries, the bank said, calling for economic growth of 2.2 per cent in the United States, 2 per cent in Britain, 1.8 per cent in Germany and 1.3 per cent in France.
Of course, Canada’s performance is one of a regional divide amid the hit to the oil provinces.
Ontario, Manitoba, British Columbia and Quebec are “actually holding their own,” Mr. Gampel said.
As fourth-quarter and annual results continue to pour in, the collapse in crude prices is taking an ever-mounting toll on energy companies around the world.
Today, Royal Dutch Shell posted its worst full-year results in more than a decade, warning, too, of further cuts.
“In the last year, the company has taken writedowns in excess of $7-billion on its operations in Alaska, Ukraine, as well as the Carmon Creek tar sands venture in Canada as it looks to dispose of non-core assets and looks to take on Exxon Mobil in the liquefied natural gas space,” said CMC’s Mr. Hewson.
“Along with the other oil majors, the main focus of concern is the dividend policy, as well as the risks of cutting expenditures too deep, and in the process curtailing its ability to react quickly to a turnaround in the oil price, as the supply and demand dynamics shift away from the current glut.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repo...ids-from-top-of-g7-to-bottom/article28533512/
