I have no moral compass...

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Find a Ultrasound school near you

True Colours Showing

I can only hold off for so long without sharing critical Blue Jays news:

http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071203.wsptjays3/GSStory/GlobeSportsBaseball/home?cid=al_gam_mostview - A.J. Burnett on the outs?

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20071204.BLAIR04/TPStory/Sports - Erik Bedard is awesome...

The inevitable collapse of the dollar

A follow up from my earlier post tonight - now I have a few global experts to back me up...

The Cold, Hard Truth

As much as we don't like to admit it, Canadians are tied to Americans in nearly every way. Just look at the facts: We shop the same, watch the same television and movies, dress the same, talk the same. Our cultures are parallel. And so are our economies.

This is the scariest part of it all - Canada's economic dependence on the United States. As much as we'd like to rejoice the rise of our dollar against the U.S. dollar (although, it barely registered an impact in retail stores) we have to consider the downside. And it's a frickin' large downside.


Without getting into to the nitty-gritty details of interest rates, inflation, and financial markets, we can still look at the basic foundation of the Canada-US relationship - trade. Canada's primary trade partner is the United States. I was too lazy to find the newest data, but in 2000, 86 per cent of Canada's total exports were to the United States. 86 per cent!!! That's basically every 9 out of 10 toys, stacks of lumber, cars, refrigerators, and barrels of oil. If you're in for a bit of macroeconomic shock treatment, take a look at http://www.buyusa.gov/canada/en/traderelationsusacanada.html. You won't believe how much we really need to States to get its act in gear.

In addition, the US is poised to lose its coveted position as the world's official currency reserve. This means that countries are choosing less and less to hold US dollars as a reserve of monetary value. All things must come to an end, and just like the Gold Standard before it, the American dollar will soon give way to the rising strength of the Euro. This won't happen in the next year, but the US dollar is singing its swan song (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reserve_currency). Once the Euro closes the gap, expect America's massive fiscal deficit to wake up and start slapping people in the face. Gone will be the days of economic ignorance and pumping billions into fighting the "War Against Terror". Gone will be the days where the States can rely on its official reserve status to preserve the power of its political influence. The United States will have to do some serious re-structuring just to survive the collapse of its own machine. The Fall of Rome, anyone? It's already starting - the meltdown of the sub-prime mortgage market and skyrocketing rate of personal bankruptcy in the US are clear indicators of the foundation stones crumbling. Don't look at me like I'm an idiot! I have Wikipedia to back me up (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Subprime_mortgage_financial_crisis) !

The problem for us is that most people forget the fall of Rome was in essence the beginning of the end for a number of nearly equally powerful civilizations of that ancient era. By the same token, Canada is one of those civilizations that will bear the brunt of America's inevitable shock wave. As a nation, we have to continue to globalize quickly to shed the heavy dependence we have on our historical trading partners. China, India, the UK.... not to be cliche but the possibilities are endless, and the benefits of global diversification heavily outweigh the risks of worldwide trade. There are so many countries accessible now will the power of the web. If nothing is impossible in this digital age, then Canadians have to take a long look in the mirror and ask: Are we ready to face the cold, hard truth?