Chapter 5 Blog

Western job boom pushed unemployment rate down in Oct.

This article shows that the booming western provinces have reached a record low in unemployment rate of 4.9%. Comparing this rate of 4.9% in October, this was a big drop from 6.4% unemployment rate in September. Most of the new jobs are found in the western provinces and the young workforce has grown significantly. Alberta is the major province that has boom the most by adding 23,000 jobs and British Columbia comes second with 13,000 jobs. Even the east has a good low rate of unemployment with Quebec having a 7.7% rate of unemployment, the lowest in 30 years for them. Furthermore, New Brunswick has created 3000 more jobs. Although these are stats from a couple months back, it shows that Canada's economy is growing at a great rate.

In relation to chapter 5, this article tells us what the unemployment rate in Canada is. Chapter 5 talks about unemployment rates and the different types unemployment and I found that this article relates pretty well to the context. One reason why the unemployment rate is a bit higher in the east may be because of the geographic dimension of structural unemployment shown in the book. It states that the unemployment is caused by a mismatch of the workers and jobs in the area, and that may be the cause in the east.

It is great to have such a low unemployment rate in Canada especially in the west where we live. Even the young workers have a good chance of getting a job in Canada, proving our economy is going well. However, our unemployment rate may raise in the future and people may lose their jobs which may be a concern. To summarize, Canada has a very low unemployment rate at the moment, but we should be careful because the unemployment rate may raise in the months or years to come.

Chapter 4

"New Year Tax Reductions Won't Make Anyone Rich"

Canadians in 2007 will get less tax coming off their earnings this year. However, it isn't a giant amount and it is barely even noticiable. If you're working alone the increase in money isn't a giant amount. "Those savings will amount to $126 for someone earning $15,000, $82 at an income of $35,000, $106 at $45,000, $106 at $60,000, and $126 at $100,000, it calculates." As you can see it will save just a little money from they gross income you have. The higher income people will save less than the lower income people because of the brackets of tax they're in. On the other hand, families with children gain a bit more because of child care and the Canadian Pension Plan. A family of four could expect $1,545 to $964 depending on where you live. To conclude, taxpayers will save some money from taxes this year, but it is not going to make you have enough to go on vacation.

This relates to chapter 4 because of the goverment taxing. As you can see from the progressive system the higher income people will save less money from taxes and the income levels of $45,000 and $60,000 save the same amount of money. However at the income level of $15,000 you could expect $126 more. Government is letting out some of the money back by cutting the taxes, but are tax rates are still very high.

I think that this tax reduction will help many low income people instead of the high income people because they will not gain much from this. It is good that the government is finally cutting tax rates. Is it really noticiable for the midrange to high income people though? Although it was a reduction in tax rates, I think it was a bit too low.

Chapter 3 Blog
Has Canada Got the Cure?
http://www.yesmagazine.org/

This article compares the United States' health care program and Canada's public tax supported health care. It states that the US is the only country in the developed world that doesn't have public payed health care. Furthermore, the US has the most expensive health care in the world with one of the most unhealthiest population. Theres a great difference between how long people live in Canada and how long people live in the US mainly because of the expensive health care. Because the health care in the US is so expensive, many of the poor people can not afford the health care program leading to poorer public health. The US spends the most capita on health in the world and if they switched to a system like Canada's they would save over $161 billion every year. However, this money comes from the people who are sick and not the government.

I am pretty glad that we have a good health care system in Canada even though if some of us pays for something we do not need, it is better for everyone esle in the country. If we do change it, our death rates might increase to the United States' level. I think that private health care would not work as well for the country because some people can not afford it. It may seem better if we payed our own health care without tax but the poor people who can not afford it might not be able to get health care.

This article links to chapter 3 because it compares the US private health care and Canada's public taxed health care. There are many differences between these two health care systems
and some similarities also.

Chapter 2
"Price elasticity of gas demand" env-econ.com

This article is about the gas prices and will people stop consuming gas or still buy gas even though the prices are rising. It says the prices right now will not affect consumers buying gas at the moment because gasoline is needed. However if the gas prices go up even more from now and stay that way for a long time it will stop some consumers from buying gas. Gas prices are rising every year and people are still buying gas. Researchers say time will change the consumption of gasoline if the price stays high for serveral years. People may choose to use some subsitutes or hybrid cars to replace cars or they might decide to move or shorten how far they live from their job.

I think that they need to find subsitutes for gasoline sooner. Hybrid cars are a good idea but not everyone will buy them because of their cost. Like people would just rather spend money on gasoline as of right now because its cheaper than buying a hybrid car. Gasoline is also harmful to the environment creating pollution and global warming. There are many other ways to stop the consumption of gasoline such as car pooling, public transit or even just walking. Hopefully subsitutes will be invented and help solve this problem of expensive gasoline.

This relates to chapter two because it shows that gasoline is inelastic for now. However, time can make gas elastic because of new subsitutes or if the price just gets too high.

Chapter One Media Article

"What's behind Japan's Big Surge?" November 6, 2006 businessweek.com

This article is about Japan whos ranked second in the world in biggest economy. As the economy is growing in Japan, it is planning on the biggest economic expansion since the second world war. The average pay per worker in Japan went up by 8,400 yen ($71).This is not much compared to what they lost in the 1990s but it is still a good increase. Their bank is planning for a increase of 2.4% in GDP this year and another 2.1% next year. Whats the reason behind Japan's success? Most of Japan's economy is from the many exports they do. However their major trading partner is the U.S. One fifth of Japan's exports are heading to the U.S. so they depend on them. Nearly $700 billion worth of cars from Japan go to the US. Because Japan's major exports are to the U.S., anything that will make the economy of the U.S. go down will also affect Japan too.

I think it's great that Japan's economy is doing so well, but I also think that they should not be depending so much in the U.S. If the american's economy goes down the Japanese's economy will greatly go down too. In my opinion, I think Japan should find more trading partners. I don't really mean that they should stop trading with the U.S. but just not depend on them too much.Sure, the U.S. will give more money, but I think they should trade more with some other countries too just in case.

This relates to chapter one because it relates to resouces and goods being exported. Instead of Alberta's oil or the Atlantic fishery, this is about Japanese exports of cars and other products to other countries, mainly the U.S.