Sunday, November 23, 2008

"Technical" recession? Is that the same as "not inhaling"?


Sun Nov. 23 2008 12:47:27 PM
Canada could face `technical' recession: Flaherty

The Canadian Press
Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty speaks at an economists conference, in downtown Toronto on Wednesday November 12, 2008.(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young)

Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty speaks at an economists conference, in downtown Toronto on Wednesday November 12, 2008.(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young)

OTTAWA -- Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says the Canadian economy could be on the verge of slipping into a "technical recession."

Speaking on CTV's Question Period, Flaherty said it's possible economic output could fall slightly below the line that separates slowdown from outright contraction in the final quarter of this year and the first quarter of next year.

Economists define recession as two consecutive quarters of negative growth, a scenario that Canada has narrowly avoided so far, despite deteriorating conditions in the United States and other western countries.

The possibility that Canada could slip into recession has been raised by a number of private-sector analysts, but Flaherty has generally avoided using the politically loaded R-word.

The finance minister is due to deliver a formal economic update to Parliament later this week.

1 comment:

Dr Mike said...

I thought the Cons said that our economy was as strong as the Canadian shield.

I also thought that Harper said that they realized the downturn was coming almost 2 years ago & set-into motion economic stimuli to keep us in normalcy.

So is a technical recession normal??

These are the same clowns who allowed 40 year mortgages with nothing down in order to replicate the American system.

Dumb as dirt comes to mind.

Dr Mike Popovich.