Jay Currie

“There is a sizable minority, about 350,000 out of 5.65 million, or about 6 per cent, who would be challenged by rate rises of less than 1 per cent, and a further 225,000 (5 per cent) have thresholds in the range of 1.00 per cent to 1.49 per cent. However, most of these have fixed-rate [...]

Right now the smart money says that gold is rising because the USD is falling. I suspect that is about right on the swings. But will gold hit $1500 anytime soon. John Brimelow thinks gold at $1500 is a near certainty.

I am on a half a vacation. Work in the mornings and evenings but take my youngest to a sports camp for the afternoon and just mooch about. Lovely pub lunch in Cadboro Bay today. Down to the beach to watch the kids race boats and to note that either girls are becoming bigger or [...]

A councillor for the Green Party has been killed after falling out of a tree, it was disclosed today. daily mail But as my lefty pals already think I’m Satan, I have to admit to a chuckle.

May Day! Time to sing of Solidarity and generally wax nostalgic of the God who Failed. I was in Vancouver for three days and, as it was largely to support my mum as she had surgery (which went well, and the nice gent who is the hospital social worker said, “Amazing, 85 and sharp as [...]

How silly are Vancouver Real Estate prices? Go play Crack Shack or Mansion and find out for yourself. Of course, in Vancouver, even a Crack Shack is worth a million bucks.

Shares in Canadian Oil Sands Trust (COS.UN-T32.702.006.51%) climbed Monday amid reports that Sinopec, Asia’s biggest refiner, plans to buy ConocoPhillips’ (COP-N55.960.641.15%) stake in Syncrude Canada, the world’s largest oil sands development. globe and mail A couple of points. First, apparently the Asians are unworried about “dirty oil”. Second, and more to the point, while the [...]

Spring was at least hinted at today; except for the wind. I wandered over to my barbers and then looped through a few other streets to get a little exercise. Earlier I had the big golden dog out for a good long walk. The “For Sale” signs are sprouting as they always do in Spring. [...]

“Clearly Germany has done an awfully good job in the last 10 years or so improving competitiveness. When you look at unit labour costs, they have done a tremendous job in that respect. I’m not sure it is a sustainable model for the long term and for the whole of the group. Clearly we need [...]

Our pal Dawg has an interesting post up on Democracy. The comment thread is promising. A key question in democracy is how it interacts with the concept of egalitarianism and, of course, self interest. So, a couple of questions for my commentors: Imagine a politician gave you a choice between everyone being 5% better off [...]

The report, however, contains interesting information, suggesting a far more subtle approach to the question of wealth and poverty than Brown’s. For example, it listed the average net household wealth in Britain by religious affiliation. The figures were as follows (I convert into American dollars): Muslim: $68,000 None: $224,000 Hindu: $337,000 Christian: $361,000 Sikh: $371,000 [...]

Mish, I can’t take it anymore. I need to take a stand. Right here. Right now. Lately, so much hate and vitriol has been directed at drunken sailors. Why has it become so chic in the blogosphere to make the analogy that the Congress, the States, the Municipalities all spend like drunken sailors? Why the [...]

Steve Jobs introduced the iPad. Some other guy will be talking to a bunch of people later today and making promises he can’t keep. Steve Jobs is the future, the other guy is public service unions and really big deficits. iPad details here.

Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez has announced that the national currency, the bolivar, will be devalued for the first time since 2005, by at least 17%. The bolivar, whose rate is set by government decree, will be devalued from its current rate of 2.15 to the US dollar to 2.60 for “priority” imports. However, the bolivar [...]

Some quick hits: Free Speech – the CHRC has turtled in the wake of the Lemire decision. It is possible that Harry and Arthur will go at it in the new year; but it is equally possible that the matter will be dismissed. One thing which has certainly happened is that the CHRC has taken [...]

There are a lot of empty buildings in China.

The cultural deficiencies were equally stunning. At GM’s Renaissance Center headquarters, the top brass were sequestered on the uppermost floor, behind locked and guarded glass doors. Executives housed on that floor had elevator cards that allowed them to descend to their private garage without stopping at any of the intervening floors (no mixing with the [...]

I recently spent a couple of weeks in Australia, and the business question I heard most frequently was: When will the world dump the dollar as a reserve currency? It’s easy for the Aussies to talk about this, because that thrice-blessed land is bursting with food, energy and mineral resources. The best way to answer [...]

Nationwide, customers snatched up 700,000 new cars, most of them foreign-made, and the government ended up paying out nearly $3 billion toward the purchases. But from the start, analysts predicted that Cash for Clunkers would not boost sales for the year. September’s sales swoon seems to be making their case. Car sales are usually slow [...]

You in Canada destroyed things with your BlackBerry. Nassim Nicholas Taleb Talebgoes on to say: You guys are slightly more insulated than others. But there’s no way you can escape the mistakes made by others. They’ll just cost you somewhat less. But if we wind up with hyperinflation, Canada will be the best place in [...]