It seems time to sync my secular self, saving my spiritual self for another time. It shall begin with humor, emanating from the USA. Later on in the blog you shall learn why investing in the USA is not advisable, because of the political situation. But first, do let us laugh at the absurdity of it all. I do, of course, call upon Andy Borowiitz of The New Yorker to do this. That man is an excellent satirist – his country gives him a great deal to satirize.
The first was entitled: Trump is Only a Few Indictments Away from Clinching G.O.P. Nomination.
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—After the special counsel Jack Smith brought new charges against Donald J. Trump, political experts agreed that the former President is but a few indictments away from clinching the Republican nomination.With felony counts in the double digits, Trump is well ahead of his closest rival, Ron DeSantis.
Love that: “felony counts in the double digits” means that Trump will clinch the Republican nomination.” Borowiitz continues in fine fashion.
“Harland Dorrinson, a prominent G.O.P. pollster, said that, “for today’s Republican voter, felony counts confer instant credibility, and, by that measure, no other candidate comes close to Trump.”He added that the pressure is on DeSantis “to get indicted for something—and fast.”“There’s a chance that he could be charged with human trafficking for transporting migrants from the Mexican border to Martha’s Vineyard,” Dorrinson said. “But that indictment might be too little, too late.”
Getting indicted for human trafficking might just be a little too little, a little too late for runner-up Santos. Hilariously funny. I remember quite suddenly that Alberta Premier Michelle Smith holds Santos in high regard. Spoke of it on an earlier blog. I shall now use the search engine of my blog in an attempt to find confirmation of this.
My memory served me well. I wrote on May 3, 2023 (again I place myself in quotes).
“This from AB Today (which has become a daily source of humor) “Kim Campbell, a former prime minster of Canada tweeted a wingnut alert (such a quaint phrase). “Former Prime Minister Kim Campbell tweeted “serious wingnut alert!” in response to a column by Don Braid in the Calgary Herald about UCP Leader Danielle Smith’s admiration for American Republican politicians, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem.” So it has been said that Premier Danielle Smith (hereinafter PDS) admires Ron DeSantis and Kristi Noem.”
Time for another disclaimer. This was an imaginary conversation with PDS, never have I met the woman, nor spoken with her despite the fact that I live about three blocks from her offices. I was a regular at the Legislative Cafeteria, she has not been seen there. She does not mix with the ordinary folk it seems.
Me: PDS almost almost all Americans hold these two men in ridicule and contempt. They are jokers and you are admiring them???
PDS: Well how was I to know? I do not have the time to read American papers, magazines or their media.
Me: You could limit yourself to the New Yorker satirist Andy Borowiitz it would clue you in. .
PDS: What is satire?
Me: This is going to take a long time to long to explain I fear. Even after all that I am not sure you would ever understand. I shall therefore supply an example.”
All of this from the May 3, 2023 blog. The blog then introduced a hilariously funny satire from Andy Borowiitz. You could go and read the blog, should you choose. This is another example of satiric genius concerning another branch of USA government – the Judiciary. This appeared on August 10, 2023: Clarence Thomas Hikes Price of Supreme Court Decisions to Keep Pace with Inflation. I suppose some familiarity with the shenanigans of Clarence Thomas might help in appreciating the irony, but not absolutely necessary, one can see how fundamentally corrupt this Judicial Branch is.
“WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Citing “unfortunate economic realities,” Clarence Thomas is hiking the price of Supreme Court decisions to keep up with inflation.The jurist disclosed his new rate card in a mass e-mail sent to more than a hundred super-donors..
A mass mail sent to more than a hundred super-donors. WOW – that is massive corruption right before your very eyes, There’s no doubt about it – Clarence Thomas is a bad boy. Andy continues speaking of the practice of shedding civil rights for private-jet flights, which is what the bad boy allegedly did. No indictments against him so it cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. It is impossible to indict a Supreme Court Justice (from what I remember).
“I have tried to keep my prices reasonable, but, as inflation proves more stubborn than predicted, I have no choice but to adjust my rates accordingly,” he wrote.“Sadly, the days of shredding civil rights in exchange for ten private-jet flights are over,” he added.It remains to be seen whether the billionaires who received Thomas’s e-mail will tolerate his steeper prices or whether they will explore a budget option such as Neil Gorsuch.”
This was a rather long-winded way to illustrate some basic facts before we launch upon a serious article found in the August 10,2023 edition of Hub, a recent Canadian on-line source of information. This by Trevor Tombe: Economic Uncertainty in Canada is High. Politicians shouldn’t make it worse: . Our prosperity depends on investment, but high uncertainty can cripple it
“Investment is vital to a nation’s economy. From buildings and equipment to research and development, all are necessary to enhance the productivity of workers, and none would exist without investment.The idea is simple: more capital means we produce more for each hour we put in. Imagine a construction site without excavators, cranes, or other tools. More capital also means higher wages, better living standards, and more.But deciding to invest is not a matter of mechanical arithmetic. Entrepreneurs and businesses must consider future conditions, regulations, taxes, and more when deciding where and how much to invest. Often, they must look many years or decades ahead.Our prosperity depends on investment, but high uncertainty can cripple it.”
Canada is suffering from ‘disappointing economic performance” according to research fin several leading economists. “Such a rise in policy uncertainty comes with real economic costs. These same researchers found that rising uncertainty in the United States after the financial crisis may have cut investment, industrial production, and employment substantially.” For Canada, the increase between 2014–15 and 2022–23 was even larger than that. Based on their results for the U.S., this might mean (and I must emphasize that this is just an illustrative back-of-the-envelope exercise) that Canadian investment may be 8 percent lower, industrial production over 1 percent lower, and employment roughly 0.5 percent lower due to this higher uncertainty. This might seem like a small change, but it translates into about 100,000 fewer jobs and meaningfully lower real incomes. This is anything but trivial. “
This HAS to be discouraging to Canadians, this factual data accompanied by an analysis.
“It’s true that uncertainty is higher in many countries. Globally, it is way up. But in Canada, it has risen more than in both the United States and the United Kingdom—two common comparators, and countries where Brexit (in the case of the U.K.) and remarkably high political dysfunction (in the case of the U.S.) might have led one to expect the opposite.”
So despite the absolute and utter political dysfunction in the U.S, – Canada is in worse shape. And what province has made it worse??? Guess??? Alberta wins the prize.
“We have seen too many instances of unnecessary government-driven policy uncertainty in Canada. Consider Alberta’s abrupt interference in regulatory processes to halt investment in renewable energy. Billions in private unsubsidized dollars were poised to flow into wind and solar, only for this bomb to drop that not only pauses investment today but creates confusion and dents confidence in the future. It is not just electricity. Investors outside politically-favoured sectors may rightly worry about sudden and unexpected policy changes affecting their projects.”
Tombe expertly informs us that is not just government, it is also politicians.
“Politicians—both in government and in opposition—can affect things. Those seeking to form governments should be cautious about completely abandoning a previous government’s decisions. If they do, consider compensating those who invested under previous rules. “Deliberate polarization can also increase uncertainty” Certainly deliberate polarization is rife in both Alberta and in Canada.”
Trever Tombe, a Professor of Economics at the University of Calgary concludes:
“But in the end, confidence in the rules laid down by governments is essential for all long-term decisions. The global economy is volatile enough. Politicians in Canada shouldn’t make matters worse.
A photograph accompanies Tombe’s well researched and thoughtful article. It is captioned: “Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is seen on a video screen as she gives a keynote address at the the LNG2023 conference in Vancouver, on Thursday, July 13, 2023. Darryl Dyck The Canadian Press.” It seems she forgot to comb her hair, this could be an example of poor planning.
Am I worried about this revolting development? Where did this phrase come from? “Rilley, a wing riveter at the fictional Cunningham Aircraft plant in California. His frequent exclamation of indignation—”What a revoltin’ development this is!”—became one of the most famous catchphrases of the 1940s. It was later reused by Benjamin J. Grimm of the Fantastic Four..”
My lack of concern stems from this simple fact. I am going to live in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where there are neither Canadian politicians nor US politicians. Investment certainty is sky high there. The world has utter and complete confidence in MBS. His hair is usually covered, but when not, it is combed.
Photographs will be of Riyadh. One taken from my Hilton Hotel room, the other from a Air Qatar jet winging Alexis McBride to The Great Edmonton Escape.
