America invests almost double what Canada invests in businesses — and that’s a problem

[Anonymous]

How do you lower electricity prices? Not with a carbon tax, that's for sure.



How do you build infrastructure to get your most valuable goods to international markets? Not with insane levels of regulations that take into account domestic non direct C02 emissions, but not those of imported raw materials. And certainly not with engineering and environmental rules about gender studies(Bill C-69).



How do increase competitiveness? Not by raising taxes while our biggest competitor simplifies their tax code and regulations.



Lastly, do we risk tens of thousands of jobs by letting a politically powerful dairy cartel hold the nation's economy hostage. God no.



By James McLeod of Postmedia Network



Canada has a problem with business investment, and it's threatening our economic competitiveness, according to a new report by the C.D. Howe Institute. And the trend looks like it's getting worse. The report, titled "Tooling Up: Canada Needs More Robust Capital Investment" finds that Canadian businesses will make capital investments equal to $13,900 per worker, well below the average of $19,700 per worker across OECD countries, and even further below the $23,200 in the United States.



The study noted that, historically, Canada's capital investment has lagged behind that of our neighbours to the south, but in the past decade we pulled closer to even. In recent years, the investment gap has been widening again. "From a forward-looking perspective, if business investment is falling, especially per worker, it sort of gives you a clue or an indication of the prospects for the economy," said Jeremy Kronick, associate director of research with C.D. Howe, and one of the authors of the report.



"If workers aren't receiving the tools to do the work that they're designed to do, that's a concern."



Digging into the details, the data paint a picture of two Canadian economies, with Alberta's oil-driven industry tied to commodity prices and the rest of the country following different fundamentals. It makes sense that capital investment took a hit around 2014 when the price of oil collapsed, but Kronick said the bigger concern is that the money hasn't started flowing again as oil prices rebound. Part of that may be explained by the delays and obstacles facing the Trans Mountain pipeline, Kronick said. "If you're anyone that is at least tangentially related to the pipeline in some capacity, you're going to say to yourself, 'Am I going to bother investing if I'm not sure this pipeline will ever get built?'," he said.



Meanwhile in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime provinces, C.D. Howe reported that capital investment is running at less than $10,000 per worker this year — less than half of what American companies are investing. CIBC chief economist Avery Shenfeld said this is an important metric to watch because capital investment is the main avenue for economic growth right now. "Coming out of a recession, there'd be lots of capacity to grow exports without having a new plant open up, but at this stage of the business cycle, if we're not getting businesses cutting ribbons on new facilities, we're going to be limited on the amount of headroom we have to grow exports," Shenfeld said. "If we're not getting businesses cutting ribbons on new facilities, we're going to be limited on the amount of headroom we have to grow" Avery Shenfeld, CIBC economist"



Doug Porter, chief economist with BMO, said he's got some questions about the methodology in the C.D. Howe study, but broadly the metric is worth watching, because it's a leading indicator.



"We really do have to focus on strengthening competitiveness," he said. "It is a fundamental building block of economic growth, and if you have relatively weak business investment now, it likely means you're going to have soft business growth in the future."



Kronick said that the factors driving business investment are fairly complex, so it's not easy to point to any one way to make Canada more competitive, but he said that the government should look at reducing electricity prices and taxes to attract more investment.

[Bricktop]

Without a fundamental, significant and profound change in our governance, it will only get worse.

[Anonymous]

Without a fundamental, significant and profound change in our governance, it will only get worse.

Unfortunately, we are in worse shape than Australia. Your country is able to get your most valuable resources to market. Our prime minister is blocking Canada from doing that.

[Bricktop]

The man is out of touch with reality.

[Anonymous]

The man is out of touch with reality.

Without a doubt. He lives in a privileged bubble.

[Anonymous]

The man is out of touch with reality.

And the air headed little snot thinks he is on a higher moral level than the people who pay for his extravagant lifestyle.

[Anonymous]

I believe the gap between the two countries will only get worse. Even a change in government won't bring the changes that are needed to turn the tide. Andrew Scheer is Trudeau lite.

[Anonymous]

I believe the gap between the two countries will only get worse. Even a change in government won't bring the changes that are needed to turn the tide. Andrew Scheer is Trudeau lite.

The Democrats will probably win the white house in 2020..



Americans might elect someone like  Justin Trudeau, you never know.

[JOE]

I believe the gap between the two countries will only get worse. Even a change in government won't bring the changes that are needed to turn the tide. Andrew Scheer is Trudeau lite.

The Democrats will probably win the white house in 2020..



Americans might elect someone like  Justin Trudeau, you never know.

Hard to say, fashionista.



But I think what is becoming increasingly evident is that Donald Trump won't run again.



Already I read about other Republicans who are jockeying for position to make a run for it.



Kassich. Pence.



My guess is that given the the social instability in America since 911 and political pendulum extremes under Obama & Trump that they'll go for somebody in the center.



My money is on Kassich.



I think he will become the next president.

[JOE]

I believe the gap between the two countries will only get worse. Even a change in government won't bring the changes that are needed to turn the tide. Andrew Scheer is Trudeau lite.

Actually When I somewhat like Scheer.



I think Trudeau is too inexperienced.



His finance minister sucks.



Many Liberals are dissatisfied with Mourneau.



A finance minister should be more like Paul Martin or the last Tory who held the post.



They should aim for and attain balanced budgets.



Trudeau is out of control in spending & he should be reined in a bit.

[Anonymous]

Take a look at this. I can't stand conservatives like Mitt Romney and I know he hates anti progs like Trump.

Trump will 'solidly' win re-election in 2020, Mitt Romney predicts

Mr Romney has been critical of Mr Trump's personal style, but has said the president has made some good decisions during his first months in office

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-us-president-election-mitt-romney-2020-utah-senate-race-a8389841.html">https://www.independent.co.uk/news/worl ... 89841.html">https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-us-president-election-mitt-romney-2020-utah-senate-race-a8389841.html

[Thiel]

Trudeau's tax and regulatory policies are not inspiring confidence to invest in this country. Workers are paying the price.

[Anonymous]

Trudeau's tax and regulatory policies are not inspiring confidence to invest in this country. Workers are paying the price.

The whole country pays the price. Even with Justine's big spending, we would not be running huge deficits if he hadn't killed big proposed industrial projects. Justine's Canada is going out of business.

[Anonymous]

American companies invested more in 2017 than they did in 2016 — about 3% more. And this year they expect to invest nearly 10% more than that. The U.S. economy is adding jobs even faster than we are shedding them.



How is this happening? Usually when the U.S. economy is expanding, our economy expands, too, as we feed them with raw materials, parts and finished goods.



We can't blame this on Donald Trump and his stubbornness on trade. This began long before Trump became president. (Well, part of it is Trump's "fault." America's economy is on the verge of a boom because the corporate tax cuts he forced through Congress have given the U.S. a clear tax advantage.)



Our troubles are almost entirely the fault of Canadian governments and their anti-investment rhetoric and policies, especially their "green" energy schemes and carbon taxes.



Our governments are using taxes to punish companies and suck up almost every extra cent ordinary wage earners are making. The federal Liberals treat millions of small business people as if they were tax cheats.



Canadian governments are also racking up massive debts and scaring away investment with their environmental regulations and carbon "pricing."



"But governments are our friends and guardians," you insist. "They protect us from the One Percenters and greedy corporations, and they provide us with essential services."



Not even close.



According to Vancouver's Fraser Institute, last year Canadian families earned an extra 3.3% in income, but taxes rose by 3.1%. In other words, for every extra dollar your family earned, governments taxed away 94 cents.



It's like the Beatles 1966 song, Taxman: "That's one for you, 19 for me."



The One Percenters didn't do that to us.



For instance, the Trudeau government did reduce middle-class income tax rates, but they also got rid of so many tax credits that middle-class families are paying $1,000 more in income tax than before the Liberals were elected.



Because our leaders can't get firm with environmental extremists and stand up to stubborn "green" politicians — like the ones who run B.C. and Quebec — we can't get pipelines built. That has cost Canada nearly $100 billion in lost investment and reduced prices for our oil over the past three years.