Je me méfie de l’or qui provoque des poussées de fièvre chez les spéculateurs. Mais avec les taux d’intérêt cloués au plancher, certains investisseurs sérieux considèrent maintenant le métal jaune pour remplacer partiellement les obligations dans leur portefeuille, car celles-ci ne parviennent plus à jouer pleinement leur rôle stabilisateur.
En début de carrière, lorsque je faisais mes dents dans le journalisme économique, j’ai probablement trop rencontré de petits promoteurs miniers et de gold bugs, ces adorateurs du métal précieux qui, bien avant les furieux adeptes du bitcoin, voient dans l’or, les conserves et les armes à feu, des moyens de survie après l’effondrement de la civilisation et de la monnaie.
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We knew the number would be big. Just how big was the question.
Statistics Canada released its initial estimate of second-quarter GDP on Friday. Output dropped by 11.5 per cent compared with first-quarter GDP and by a little over 13 per cent compared with the second quarter of 2019. This is the largest recorded quarterly decline since Statistics Canada began reporting quarterly GDP numbers in 1961.
The estimate was scary enough but the way it was reported may have caused either unnecessary panic or unnecessary pessimism. Media reports emphasized the “annualized” change in GDP, which was a drop of 38.7 per cent, which is worse than scary. Does this mean Canadian GDP will actually wind up falling almost 40 per cent, as it…
In Canada, if regulation doesn’t work, the answer always seems to be more regulation. And so it is now with wholesale internet rates.
In August, the Cabinet (mildly) criticized the CRTC’s new wholesale internet rates, noting that because they are so low, they may “undermine investment in high-quality networks.” This sentiment is justified, but the Cabinet needs to go much further. This is an opportunity for Canada to finally accept that our government-directed internet “market” is not working — and to create a system of real, authentic competition.
First, why is the CRTC setting internet rates anyway? Canada has a form of wholesale internet regulation that is unique in the world. In Canada, as in most countries,…
