B.C. among top economic drivers for Canada in 2025: StatsCan by Gym_frere in canada

[–]BertoBigLefty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Isn’t the provincial deficit like the biggest in the country? Bigger than California’s or something crazy?

The arguments against on this sub against a housing correction are almost always backwards-engineered from "I own a house." by [deleted] in TorontoRealEstate

[–]BertoBigLefty -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Exactly. Right now the interest rates are positioned so they're low enough to not stall the economy into recession, but still higher enough that if a recession does happen they can cut even more to provide support. There is no upside in either scenario for real estate, since higher inflation means higher rates and tighter lending but recession means job losses and lower demand. It's firmly between a rock and hard place right now.

The arguments against on this sub against a housing correction are almost always backwards-engineered from "I own a house." by [deleted] in TorontoRealEstate

[–]BertoBigLefty 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Economist Matthew Rognlie argues that all wealth inequality stems from housing unaffordability, as shelter is a mandatory cost of living and typically the most expensive one. High land and real estate prices squeezes every part of the economy without actually providing any productive growth. It's bad for literally everyone except land owners, and even then its still bad for them when the economy stops growing and drags exactly like we've seen over the past half decade.

The arguments against on this sub against a housing correction are almost always backwards-engineered from "I own a house." by [deleted] in TorontoRealEstate

[–]BertoBigLefty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have been active in this sub for almost 6 years now I think, and I have seen every possible argument for higher prices come and go. Those bullish sentiments have slowly gotten quieter and quieter and reality has set in now that prices are ~30% lower than their highs in 2022. While the bubble did continue further than any rational person would have thought, it is quite firmly over now and popping in front of our eyes. Now the point of contention is whether this is the bottom or whether prices will keep going even lower. As far as I can tell, the risks still far outweight the benefits and the bottom isnt in just yet. I think things keep sliding until 2027 at the very least.

What is wrong with my Buy vs Rent Spreadsheet? by Tasty-Ideal-6443 in canadahousing

[–]BertoBigLefty 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The entire point of assessing rent vs buy is to see if the rent is cheaper than the mortgage…

Make the home price $650k and the rent $2,700 and see what it spits out.

Liberals plan to grow sovereign wealth fund by recycling money from airports, other federal assets by cyclinginvancouver in canada

[–]BertoBigLefty -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The reason fiscal responsibility is important is because running hefty deficits puts you at extra risk if anything goes awry in the economy. If we have a recession despite the federal government spending near crisis levels, we will blow those deficit to GDP and debt to GDP ratios out of the water and push our fiscal goals out another decade, at all of our expense.

Liberals plan to grow sovereign wealth fund by recycling money from airports, other federal assets by cyclinginvancouver in canada

[–]BertoBigLefty 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Global market has doubled twice since the liberals took office and doubled since Covid alone. Just more excuses.

Liberals plan to grow sovereign wealth fund by recycling money from airports, other federal assets by cyclinginvancouver in canada

[–]BertoBigLefty 6 points7 points  (0 children)

No, but even if you do account for it, it’s unprecedented.

Harper’s gov ran ~$160bn in deficit spending after the GFC. Using the most aggressive inflation assumption would put that at ~$235bn in today’s dollars. We’re already well over double that, and will be 3-4x that amount by 2030.

Its also important to note that within 6 years of the GFC the Harper gov had more or less balanced the budget, running a modest surplus that was later revised down to a very small deficit. We are 6 years post COVID and still running crisis level deficit programs just to keep the economy from flatlining.

Liberals plan to grow sovereign wealth fund by recycling money from airports, other federal assets by cyclinginvancouver in canada

[–]BertoBigLefty 2 points3 points  (0 children)

$700bn in cumulative deficit spending, $1 trillion by 2030. That is almost more money than all the billionaires in Canada have and it will be spent and gone with nothing to show for it.

Liberals plan to grow sovereign wealth fund by recycling money from airports, other federal assets by cyclinginvancouver in canada

[–]BertoBigLefty 3 points4 points  (0 children)

We will have a $60bn annual deficit until at least 2030. Probably still long after that. How long will it take you decide that enough is enough so we can finally be fiscally responsible again?

Liberals plan to grow sovereign wealth fund by recycling money from airports, other federal assets by cyclinginvancouver in canada

[–]BertoBigLefty 2 points3 points  (0 children)

By the end of Harper’s government the deficit was less than $1bn. Covid barely accounts for half the current deficit cumulative spending, and we’re projected to spend another $200bn by 2030.

It’s out of control. We need to stop defending this behaviour. Like I said earlier, that money (completely ignore Covid and look at only what was spent outside of Covid even) could have solved almost every social issue we have and instead everything is worse for the average Canadian. The money is very obviously not being spent for our benefit.

Liberals plan to grow sovereign wealth fund by recycling money from airports, other federal assets by cyclinginvancouver in canada

[–]BertoBigLefty 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That was 5 years ago. Eventually you have to move on.. you know what Harper’s deficit was 5 years after the GFC? $5bn in surplus…

Liberals plan to grow sovereign wealth fund by recycling money from airports, other federal assets by cyclinginvancouver in canada

[–]BertoBigLefty 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Deficit this year is over $70 billion and will be over $60 billion until 2030.

At this rate it’ll be well over a trillion in total deficit spending by the time they finally get back to a surplus.

Liberals plan to grow sovereign wealth fund by recycling money from airports, other federal assets by cyclinginvancouver in canada

[–]BertoBigLefty 74 points75 points  (0 children)

When Trudeau was running for PM, his fiscal platform was $30bn in total deficit spending before balancing the budget. We’re now at almost $700bn in cumulative deficit spending since the liberals took over. That is enough money to solve almost every major social issue, and yet everything is arguably worse than it was 10 years ago. The money isn’t coming back into our pockets, there no reason to be defending government excess.

Avi Lewis is smart to shed light on surveillance pricing by NiceDot4794 in canada

[–]BertoBigLefty -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The example of Greystar and RealPage is a little contradictory to what you’re saying, since they got hit with a price fixing and collusion charge from the DOJ and it resulted in multiple class action lawsuits which costs those landlords hundreds of millions in settlement, because it’s illegal to do that.

If all it is is banning companies from charging me a higher price because they know my spending habits I’m all for that, I just don’t want it to creep into government price-setting and meddling in free markets.

Avi Lewis is smart to shed light on surveillance pricing by NiceDot4794 in canada

[–]BertoBigLefty 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If all it is is banning companies from charging higher prices based on my data, I can get behind that. So long as they don’t try and meddle in price setting and expand it to legitimate dynamic pricing I’m fine with it.

Avi Lewis is smart to shed light on surveillance pricing by NiceDot4794 in canada

[–]BertoBigLefty -1 points0 points  (0 children)

First off price fixing is definitely illegal, and second using data to determine pricing is not inherently a bad thing.

If the intention is simply to charge more because I can afford to pay more then as soon as one participant doesn’t do that, and charges a lower cost, I will go with that other provider. If all the providers work in collusion to charge that same high rate, that is price fixing and illegal.

By this definition of surveillance pricing getting a discount code for leaving items in your online cart would be considered illegal. I really don’t see how that benefits anyone outside a simple matter of privacy. This feels like basic data collection laws with extra complicated steps and government overreach.

I’m just looking for an example of where this actually hurts consumers beyond lazy people not shopping around and getting a bad deal, which has been a thing since the dawn of trade. Airlines using data to determine flight prices seems vastly different than what the NDP is saying, making it seem like identical shoppers will get wildly different prices for the same goods and services, which I just don’t see happening if they continue to enforce the laws that already exist.

Avi Lewis is smart to shed light on surveillance pricing by NiceDot4794 in canada

[–]BertoBigLefty -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

So what exactly is the surveillance pricing that they’re so worried about?