Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Canada's banking system: A blueprint for the world?

March 31, 2009

http://www.vancouversun.com/Business/Canada+banking+system+blueprint+world/1446540/story.html

This article basically praises the banking system of Canada and it also suggest that the banking system in which Canada uses should be a blueprint for other countries. The combination of Canada's macro-economic framework, regulatory oversight of our financial sector and the specific management practices of the private sector has resulted in a strong, well-capitalized and successful banking sector. With such positive approaches, Canada banking system should be highly regarded as a global solution. On the flip side, Canada has also done an explicit job keeping inflation rates low and stable vastly due to the Bank Act's mandated review, regulations separating the traditional four pillars of the financial sector -- banks, insurers, trust companies and investment dealers -- were largely eliminated. Most importantly, by 1990 Canada has already created an assimilated bank model which gives The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) all the power. Besides having a strong framework, what makes Canada bank so stable and unique is chiefly due to their private banking sector which is trained to offer risk management practices. With practices which eliminates high risk, Canadian banks are insured to offer lower risks and deeper relationships with our customers. With such great moderation and balance, this is vastly the reason why Canadian bank should be highly regarded as a blueprint for the entire financial world.

Connections to Introduction

The connections I make with this article and Chapter 7 has to do with the Banking system which Canada offer which is referred to as branch banking. What makes branch banking so stable is vastly due to the diversified assets and liabilities which allows funds to be transferred between branches to accounts where they are needed the most. This is basically the safeguard in which Canadian branch banks offers because if bank branch was independent, then a large portion of its loans are in one area or are concentrated in certain industries. This can be risky. At times branch banking is often criticize for giving centralization of financial power to a country, but if we look at present day facts, then we can clearly see that we are one of the few countries in the world that is actually weathering this storm relatively well. This is also the reason why I think many other countries should give the branch bank system a try.

Reflection

Personally, I think many countries should use the Canadian banking system as a blueprint for the future because if we follow the Canadian banking system, then the chances of a global recession happening again would sharply decline mainly because the Canadian banking system operates with very little risk involved. As a Canadian citizen, I can easily acclaim my money to be safe because I wouldn't have to worry over banks filing for a bail out or any other risky events. Our neighbour down south on the other hand is in a way different story because many of their large financial corporations are falling down like lightning chiefly because their banks has extremely high risk, but with high rewards. But if high reward ends up in a recession, which makes unemployment high, then why not just use the Canadian banking system as a blueprint for the future.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Growth forecast for just four provinces this year

March 5, 2009

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/fp/Growth+forecast+just+four+provinces+this+year/1356756/story.html

This article basically talks about how Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick are predicted to be the only four Canadian provinces to have growing economies this year, according to the Conference Board’s Provincial Outlook. According to the Conference Board's Provincial Outlook Director, Pedro Autunes, “No province is immune to the effects of the global recession, but the momentum in the domestic economies of Saskatchewan and Manitoba will cushion the blow from the downturn in the resource sector.” This basically implies that Saskatchewan and Manitoba will definitely get their fair share of the effects from the global recession; however, these two provinces will be safeguarded by their domestic economies. For example, Saskatchewan’s strong potash prices and infrastructure spending will bolster construction activity, thus labor markets will expand and provincial income tax cuts will keep retail sales growing at a healthy pace this year. Saskatchewan will again post the strongest growth among the provinces at 1.6 per cent. In Manitoba, large public and private capital projects, a resilient labor market and personal income tax cuts will be very beneficial to Manitoba’s 1% growth this year. Both of these provinces will be relying heavily on their domestic economies this year. In Prince Edward Island, the real GDP is expected to grow to about 0.6 per cent in 2009, since the province is preparing for the massive development of wind power energy on the Island. While in New Brunswick, $100 million in tax cuts and $1.2 billion in infrastructure spending over the next two years is expected to raise the GDP growth by 0.2% this year. The economic activity in 2009 is forecast ed to be a down year for the the other remaining provinces, however, all provinces are expected to bounce back in 2010, as the U.S. economy hits bottom and begins to recover.”

Connections to Introduction

The connections I make with this article and chapter 6 has to do with the term GDP. GDP is defined as the value of all goods and services produced in a given year. This directly relates to my article, because the whole reason why we are able to even know why these four provinces are showing signs of a growth in their economy is chiefly due to the GDP. If their wasn't GDP, then we would not be able to understand how much of a decline or an increase a province's good and services have done. In fact, the GDP is also one of the tools which we use to tell us whether or not a country is in a recession or not, because when a country GDP reaches negative growth, then that is basically when the country is declared to be in a recession. With the four provinces making positive growth right now, we can also easily predict that these four provinces will most likely be the first four to step out of the recession, and also these four will most likely be having the highest economic growth in 2010. This is also where the GDP is put to full use, because the GDP can easily tell us when the specific province started having positive growth, and also by how much has it improved or declined by. This is what makes the GDP so important to not just Canada, but to any economy.

Reflection

Personally, I think it's great to see that there are provinces in Canada that are now having beneficial GDP growth, because this also signifies that the entire country of Canada will also be rebounding in a distant future. For example, with the 2010 Olympics lurking around the corner, this will definitely help BC economy to start getting back on track. By 2010, I think Canada's GDP and economic growth will start producing healthy numbers again since many provinces are expected to have major improvements next year. With the winter Olympics, this will most likely help improve the economy in BC by a lot. In fact, I wouldn't be too surprise to see BC leading the way as one of Canada's highest GDP growth as of 2010.