O' Canada

Is the party over?

Maclean's is a Canadian bi-weekly news magazine first published in 1905. A publication designed to go a little deeper than the cash-for-comment main stream media and targeting the more intelligent in the community.

Much along the lines of 'Time' magazine and Australia's 'Bulletin' (before it went under in 2008 after 128 published years as they found only 7 intelligent people in Australia that really wanted to know what is actually going on).

Canada's houshold debt to GDP is around 94%, Australia's is 97%  (almost there!).

I wish our officials in Australia had a more realistic view of the world.

Bank of Canada warns possible debt 'shock'

OTTAWA — The Bank of Canada has renewed its warning that debt-laden Canadians could face a "significant shock" if housing prices fall.

With the ratio of household debt to income reaching 153 per cent, fanned by low interest rates, there are concerns some consumers could soon be at the breaking point.

"Households are a central component of Canada's economy and, hence, its financial stability. Although Canada has weathered the global turmoil relatively well, the robustness of domestics household finances remains an important determinant of the country's economic and financial well-being," the bank said Thursday in a series of special reports.

Canada is an oil and electricity exporter as well as minerals. Canada has 34M people to Australia's 22M but Canada's exports are $450M to our $216M. Its the world's 3 largest automotive exporter, 4th largest agricultural exporter (where does your Canola come from?) and a major aircraft manufacturer. The 'Australia is a mining economy' argument is fluff in comparison.

The Bank of Canada Review focuses on household debt and changes in the value of Canadian's "single-most important asset" — their homes.

While there has been a steady rise in the ratio of household debt to personal disposable income, house prices have been steadily increasing since 2000, the review said.

Not in Australia, we are different.

"These facts are interrelated, since rising house prices can facilitate the accumulation of debt. Households could, therefore, experience a significant shock if house prices were to reverse," it said.

"The evidence indicates that a significant share of borrowed funds from home-equity extraction was used to finance consumption and home renovation in Canada from 1999 to 2010. Such indebtedness constitutes an important source of risk to household spending, since it makes households more vulnerable to a potential decline in house prices."

Not in Australia. We don't use our home equity to buy more 100% overpriced homes or rubber dog shit from China via our biggest employer, retail, or buy cars over priced to the tune of 80% . We are different.

On the upside, Canadians are a resilient bunch.