Canada is home to that puzzling phenomenon known as the jobless recovery. Through free trade, good growth stats and impressive stock market gains, the number of unemployed remains high. Government cuts are one obvious culprit. The company has not hired a single applicant. Governments cut jobs to reduce deficits.
Small businesses have difficulty getting capital for start-up or expansion.
Economists tell us to hold on, we'll reap the benefits of growth soon enough. Perhaps, but there been many periods of simultaneous high GNP per capita and high unemployment. And some private-sector growth is the result of unproductive activity such as leveraged buyouts, currency speculation and real estate deals. The prevailing logic is that productive growth follows consumer spending. Some jobs harm the environment, others harm the human soul.