What are we doing to our kids? . . . .

[seldomseen]

It should be against the law for government to spend money they don't have.

When they spent more than they bring in they are forcing some future generation to pay for your lifestyle and that is not right.

[farmaholic]

'Change in culture' is the only way out, but voters must make this happen . . .

Part of what I described in the above post is part of the problem not the solution.

Too many people demand more than they deserve.....and don't want to pay for any of it.
Government spending on stupid useless stuff....bad decisions.

[errolanderson]

It should be against the law for government to spend money they don't have.

When they spent more than they bring in they are forcing some future generation to pay for your lifestyle and that is not right.

seldonseen . . . you are so right. Believe the cultural shift is already on. The incoming generation may be far more responsible with debt than their parents. Political strategy may change significantly to maintain power.

This is going to continue to hammer retail. Malls may turn into apartments and museums. If staying out of debt becomes hip, this is bad news for economies built on spending, greed and bank loans. The days of banker billion dollar quarterly profits might be numbered.

[biglentil]

Its a race to the bottom. Spend it while paper funny money can still purchase hard assets. Those days are numbered.

[grefer]

seldonseen . . . you are so right. Believe the cultural shift is already on. The incoming generation may be far more responsible with debt than their parents. Political strategy may change significantly to maintain power.

This is going to continue to hammer retail. Malls may turn into apartments and museums. If staying out of debt becomes hip, this is bad news for economies built on spending, greed and bank loans. The days of banker billion dollar quarterly profits might be numbered.

Sorry guys. I have never seen the younger generation be more frugal than the one before. They have been in part the beneficiary of spending beyond our means even though they dont know it. When was the last time they knew interest rates higher than 5 or 6 percent unless they didnt pay there credit card off. Not blaming them at all. The Majority of voters will do SFA until it is forced on them by something that is beyond govt control. This lets our elected officials off the hook by saying they had no choice and the Majority will believe it. The voters that do seem to understand the consequences of all this debt want it solved as long as it doesnt affect them. Ya right. Then again does it matter what we do here if our neighbors to the south go down. Probably not.

[dalek]

'Change in culture' is the only way out, but voters must make this happen . . .

There’s no way voters can make it happen under a party system. It will only change when enough people stand up and eliminate the party system by force

[MBgrower]

as governments run out of money to support and fund every liberal cause, how many years are we away when a tax will be placed on personal savings accounts and investment portolios? This would be on top of capital gains. my guess is 15 years or so.

[burnt]

as governments run out of money to support and fund every liberal cause, how many years are we away when a tax will be placed on personal savings accounts and investment portolios? This would be on top of capital gains. my guess is 15 years or so.

15 years?

Again, everyone loves an optimist!

With our totalitarian-inclined PM in power, it could be more like 15 months.

[parsley]

Think about what farmers have... a farming culture, a community culture, skills, a work ethic, and respect from the country.
These are the mportant assets; worth everything.

We can change minds. Change directions. Change opportunities. Change attitudes. It's just that farmers have not consolidated their power, exploited it, or given a voice to it.

We need strong leadership. We're not lacking strong leaders. We are lacking the strong leaders who don't step up.

There are going to be some very hard times coming up. Prepare your minds for it. You have the strength but not the boldness. Yet.

I've thought about the decline of the quality of Canadian leadership over the winter months.

We need: Decency. Patriotism. Honor. Honesty. Focused.

You have no idea who you are, folks. pars

[macdon02]

One word .... DEFAULT !!!! Look on eBay you find all sorts of govt bonds that are only worth toilet paper status at best. Pension funds are loaded with them because they are "safe". (See 2008) "Normalized" interest rates will cause govt to default and they are normalizing because pensions are under funded due to low rates. Game over bitchz bye bye relying on govt to live. Crank the USD as every govt bond worldwide is priced in USD instead of loonies and watch them burn. Look at tbond chart, and short em with both fists. The solution to last problem is causation of the next. GOVT IS ****ING IDIOTS !!! Bonds are everything and the repercussion will be massive. Assets to the moon. Cash is not your friend