A Tale of Two Economies...

[lakedaemonian]

Re: Looking North ? ...

No offense intended but Canada's "instant green card program" is rather laughable in that it targets only the creme de la creme of immigrants:



While the U.S. does not have such a program specifically for the super elite of skilled workers, I'd be surprised if such an individual could not find a way to work in the U.S. The big fuss over the H1-B visa program in the U.S. is that the vast majority of the workers are mediocre at best and are about as good for the U.S. economy as offshoring manufacturing was for the economy. Notably, Canada's instant green card program is not available to these mediocre immigrants.

One other problem Canada is going to face is that it lacks the existing startup infrastructure that already exists in the U.S. It's certainly something that can be built but it's not as simple as adding money and importing a bunch of skilled/educated workers.

I know this post is a few months old, but I just caught it.

I'm a bit puzzled.

Why do you reckon Canada's program is laughable?

From a clinical perspective, wouldn't it be best for a country to recruit the best in the world instead of the mediocre or worst in the world?

I tend to think of smart immigration policies as not indifferent from professional sports team recruitment.

How is recruiting new immigrants where every new immigrant increases the average level of education, experience, wealth, etc of the population a bad thing as opposed to immigration policies that might decrease the national averages?

You don't see professional sports teams implementing recruitment policies to lower average player capabilities, why should nations?

[jk]

Re: Looking North ? ...

since the "team" is of no fixed size, you can always quibble about where the cutoff should be.

[Milton Kuo]

Re: Looking North ? ...

I know this post is a few months old, but I just caught it.

I'm a bit puzzled.

Why do you reckon Canada's program is laughable?

From a clinical perspective, wouldn't it be best for a country to recruit the best in the world instead of the mediocre or worst in the world?

I tend to think of smart immigration policies as not indifferent from professional sports team recruitment.

How is recruiting new immigrants where every new immigrant increases the average level of education, experience, wealth, etc of the population a bad thing as opposed to immigration policies that might decrease the national averages?

You don't see professional sports teams implementing recruitment policies to lower average player capabilities, why should nations?

I fully agree with you that it is in a nation's best interest to recruit the most talented in the world. My confusing reply, which I must have written when I was reading two or three other articles at the same time , is trying to make two points:

The most capable immigrants looking for a place to start a business are unlikely to take up on the Canadian offer since it requires that they already have venture capital backing for their company. Unless money is easier in Canada than in the US (come on, the US has Helicopter Ben at the helm), I'd be surprised if a really great start-up company can get funding in Canada but not in the US. Given a choice of starting up a company in Canada or the US's Silicon Valley, I think going to Silicon Valley is going to be more attractive due to its established start-up infrastructure (culture, money, network, and educated workforce). I believe the Canadian program to attract the brightest who somehow couldn't get a work visa in the US could end up in a situation of where they built it but no one came.

Secondly, if you've worked with enough H1-B visa immigrants in the US, then you probably know that a lot of them are marginally better than unskilled labor. If there are "best and brightest" workers who somehow can't beat out these mediocrities for a work visa, how are they going to be able to qualify for Canada's special program for immigrants, which is something of a more selective fast track to their existing immigration program for skilled workers?

If Canada does not lower its bar for its special program for the most-talented guest workers, I don't think too many people are going to show up for the party as they'll want to attend the bigger, cooler party in the US. If they do lower the bar, they'll likely be getting the dregs who couldn't even get in to the US, which has an unstated policy of flooding its STEM fields with large numbers of marginally skilled workers to lower wages and maximize corporate profits.

[GRG55]

Re: A Tale of Two Economies...

Two seemingly complementary headlines from this morning:



Obama pitches plan to shut down Fannie and Freddie

U.S. president will outline proposal that could see government exit mortgage business...


CMHC cools mortgage market with new cap for banks

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. is putting a cap on the amount of mortgage-backed securities sold by banks that it is willing to guarantee...

[ProdigyofZen]

Re: A Tale of Two Economies...

Two seemingly complementary headlines from this morning:



Obama pitches plan to shut down Fannie and Freddie

U.S. president will outline proposal that could see government exit mortgage business...


CMHC cools mortgage market with new cap for banks


Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. is putting a cap on the amount of mortgage-backed securities sold by banks that it is willing to guarantee...

That is going to be a boon for the FIRE economy. If Fannie and Freddie go away what company is going to get to originate mortgages at the clip those two companies are doing it AND be quasi backed by the US government?

[photon555]

Re: A Tale of Two Economies...

Won't all of the big boys get a piece of the action? Haven't they all been handing out the candy on Capitol Hill and the White House? And won't they all set up special subsidiaries so that they can extract the maximum profit while protecting themselves from any losses? Let the taxpayers suck up the financial toxic waste. Remember: "Privatize the Profits and Socialize the Losses." After all, the business of America is TBTF Banks.

"Banking and Politics were invented so that weak, incompetent, cowardly men could have access to women, money and power." Jehu Galt

[Forrest]

Re: A Tale of Two Economies...

Considering that incomes are not rising, and most people that don't own houses right now are avoiding such foolish behavior, who is going to be there to take a loan out?

[GRG55]

Re: A Tale of Two Economies...

Won't all of the big boys get a piece of the action? Haven't they all been handing out the candy on Capitol Hill and the White House? And won't they all set up special subsidiaries so that they can extract the maximum profit while protecting themselves from any losses? Let the taxpayers suck up the financial toxic waste. Remember: "Privatize the Profits and Socialize the Losses." After all, the business of America is TBTF Banks.

"Banking and Politics were invented so that weak, incompetent, cowardly men could have access to women, money and power." Jehu Galt

And how is this worse than the current system? What about all the corruption and outright fraud that was going on in Fannie before the crisis?

[GRG55]

Re: A Tale of Two Economies...

From the "Desperately Searching for the Right Size" file:

BlackBerry cuts another 100 jobs

The layoffs come on top of 250 jobs eliminated in July.

Published on Tue Aug 20 2013

Another 100 people have been laid off in Waterloo by mobile phone maker BlackBerry, the company says.

The layoffs, on top of 250 people let go in July, are as of Tuesday, a spokeswoman told the Star.

She would not give a current number for BlackBerry employees but said a figure reported last year of about 6,000 was accurate then.

“As previously stated, we are in the second phase of our transformation plan,” the company said in a statement.

“As such, this week’s employee reductions demonstrates another step forward to scale our company correctly for new opportunities in mobile computing...



Sears cutting 245 jobs, mostly at head office

CP August 20, 2013 6:02 PM

TORONTO — Sears Canada (TSX:SCC) is cutting 245 jobs, mostly at its head office in Toronto, and moving some of the work overseas.

The reductions will affect 138 of the jobs in the retailer’s information technology department, 99 in finance and eight in payroll.

About 200 of the cuts are in the Toronto area, 38 are in Montreal and six in Belleville, Ont.

Sears said the workload will be transferred to “external third-party providers whose business expertise includes updated systems and processes that can more efficiently perform the work involved.”

While the company didn’t provide a specific breakdown on how the work will be re-assigned, spokesman Vincent Power said a “contingent of workers” will be in Canada while the majority of the IT work is expected to be done in the Philippines and the majority of the finance and payroll work in India.

“They have invested in systems that are core to the services their businesses provide, and that would require Sears to invest in areas that are not core to its retail business,” Powers said in an email...

...Sears Canada let go 700 workers across the country earlier this year in a bid to “right-size” and restructure its business...

...Shares in the company fell 73 cents, or more than 5.6 per cent, to close at $12.27 on the Toronto Stock Exchange...


Record public sector layoffs slam Canada’s job market in July

OTTAWA — Government policy penchants for reducing the size of the public sector have cut a major swath through Canada’s employment rolls.

In July alone, 74,000 fewer people received government pay cheques — most of them were working in the healthcare sector and social assistance programs.

When all the cuts and gains are tallied, the country lost a net total of 39,400 jobs last month— many of them belonging to chronically under-employed youths, but the vast majority were public servants, Statistics Canada said Friday.

The Harper government promised to save $5.2-billion in federal public administration costs over three years in an effort to balance the federal budget by 2015. Part of that plan included eliminating 19,200 jobs from the sector, or about 4.8% of the workforce.

And other levels of government have been cutting staff.

“Fiscal restraint, at both the federal and provincial level, has focused its eye on the civil service itself,” said Avery Shenfeld, chief economist at CIBC World Markets...

...The unemployment rate rose to 7.2% in July from 7.1% the previous month, Statistics Canada.

“With the decrease, employment gains have averaged 11,000 per month over the six months, slower than the average of 27,000 observed during the preceding six-month period,” Statistics Canada said...

[GRG55]

Re: A Tale of Two Economies...

Maybe Target needs to start selling ice hockey equipment, like Canadian Tire...

Target struggles with lower-than-expected Canadian results, cuts outlook

The Globe and Mail
Published Wednesday, Aug. 21 2013, 7:54 AM EDT
Last updated Wednesday, Aug. 21 2013, 1:00 PM EDT

U.S. discounter Target Corp. is struggling with lower-than-expected results at its new Canadian stores, forcing it to lower its full-year outlook and tweak marketing efforts to lure more shoppers.

Although the highly anticipated Target stores drew “strong initial traffic,” they failed to attract enough customers to everyday items such as groceries and consumer goods, which cut the number of “frequent” shopping trips, Gregg Steinhafel, chairman and chief executive officer, said. The Canadian outlets had to cut prices to clear out unsold merchandise, which hurt profits.

As a result, the company now expects that its Canadian operations, which it launched in March amid huge buzz, will shave 82 cents (U.S.) a share from its bottom line this year rather than its previous 45-cent dilution forecast.

[lektrode]

Re: A Tale of Two Economies...

Maybe Target needs to start selling ice hockey equipment, like Canadian Tire...

Target struggles with lower-than-expected Canadian results, cuts outlook

The Globe and Mail
Published Wednesday, Aug. 21 2013, 7:54 AM EDT
Last updated Wednesday, Aug. 21 2013, 1:00 PM EDT

U.S. discounter Target Corp. is struggling with lower-than-expected results at its new Canadian stores, forcing it to lower its full-year outlook and tweak marketing efforts to lure more shoppers.

Although the highly anticipated Target stores drew “strong initial traffic,” they failed to attract enough customers to everyday items such as groceries and consumer goods, which cut the number of “frequent” shopping trips, Gregg Steinhafel, chairman and chief executive officer, said. The Canadian outlets had to cut prices to clear out unsold merchandise, which hurt profits.

As a result, the company now expects that its Canadian operations, which it launched in March amid huge buzz, will shave 82 cents (U.S.) a share from its bottom line this year rather than its previous 45-cent dilution forecast.

but still was enough to 'beat walmart' (which headline eye recall seeing earlier today seems to have vanished) ?

[c1ue]

Re: A Tale of Two Economies...

While the U.S. does not have such a program specifically for the super elite of skilled workers, I'd be surprised if such an individual could not find a way to work in the U.S. The big fuss over the H1-B visa program in the U.S. is that the vast majority of the workers are mediocre at best and are about as good for the U.S. economy as offshoring manufacturing was for the economy. Notably, Canada's instant green card program is not available to these mediocre immigrants.

Comparing apples and oranges.

The US has an equivalent 'buy your green card' program - it is called EB-5. There are also categories like EB-3.

[Milton Kuo]

Re: A Tale of Two Economies...

Comparing apples and oranges.

The US has an equivalent 'buy your green card' program - it is called EB-5. There are also categories like EB-3.

Is it really apple and oranges? Unless I'm mistaken, the Canadian program discussed in the article is talking about giving a green-card-equivalent to people who are able to raise enough OPM. It is not talking about bringing in X number of dollars and creating Y number of jobs to get residency. Such programs exist in many countries besides the U.S. and Canada.

[c1ue]

Re: A Tale of Two Economies...

Is it really apple and oranges? Unless I'm mistaken, the Canadian program discussed in the article is talking about giving a green-card-equivalent to people who are able to raise enough OPM. It is not talking about bringing in X number of dollars and creating Y number of jobs to get residency. Such programs exist in many countries besides the U.S. and Canada.

I don't see the difference between forcing investment via OPM or forcing investment via outright personal investment. Either way, it is pay for play.

[GRG55]

Re: A Tale of Two Economies...

but still was enough to 'beat walmart' (which headline eye recall seeing earlier today seems to have vanished) ?

Well, on the US side of the border the competition in retail and consumer products seems brutal, but not all the news is negative. I was intrigued by the Amazon news item below, from Bloomberg this morning. This sort of stuff suggests to me that the restructuring of the USA economy is continuing, which I think is good news as this is what is going to differentiate USA (and North America as a whole) economic growth rates from the rest of the world over the next decade.

For now at least, iTulip's "Fortress America" might be more "Fortress Middle America". I happened to land at Minot, ND to clear US Border Service Customs and Immigration on my way to Oshkosh in late July. This airport in the middle of freaking nowhere was a beehive of activity with a remarkable amount of new commercial hangar/office space recently completed (all of it occupied) and another large commercial hangar under construction. It even has quite a nice private aviation museum housed in a huge hangar stuffed with restored vintage and WWII warbird airplanes (most of them in flying condition) showcasing the role and history of aviation in the region. Strolled across the street to the strip along the highway to get some lunch. Every store has a "Help Wanted" sign in the window. Nice gal at the sandwich shop said "Everybody has gone to work for the oil companies (in the Bakken)". Wages for all jobs rising, can't find people...usual oil boom story that I have seen so many times before. But the longer the boom carries on (and this one seems to have legs for now) the more permanent the spin-off investments in the local area from the resource development become, and more of the migrant shift workers put down roots and stay even after the drilling tapers (there's the "T" word again). Things like production operations, maintenance functions, welding and fabrication shops, rotating equipment overhaul expertise, specialize production accounting skills and that sort of thing carry on for decades after the drilling stops, and these continue to be well paid jobs if they are servicing the oil industry.

A random walk through the retail jungle from the news today:

Staples tumbled 15 percent, the most in more than two years, to $14.27. The world’s largest office-supplies chain, which suffers from waning consumer demand for products such as ink and toner and computer accessories, cut its outlook after second-quarter results were weaker than it expected.

Target dropped 3.6 percent to $65.50, the lowest since March 1. The second-largest U.S. discount retailer joins Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Macy’s Inc. in reporting results that showed the bumpy economy and increased Social Security taxes are making consumers reluctant to spend beyond necessities.

PetSmart Inc. dropped 5.3 percent to $71. The pet-store chain forecast earnings of 83 cents to 87 cents a share in the third quarter. Analysts, on average, estimated 87 cents, according to a Bloomberg survey.

Lowe’s Cos. jumped 3.9 percent after the second-largest U.S. home-improvement retailer raised its full-year projection amid a housing recovery.

American Eagle Outfitters Inc. plunged 9.9 percent to $14.76. The clothing retailer’s second-quarter sales fell short of analyst estimates.

Garmin Ltd. climbed 5.6 percent to $40.59 for the biggest gain in the S&P 500. The largest maker of navigation devices was boosted to neutral from sell at Goldman Sachs.



Amazon.com Inc. is stepping up a warehouse building spree, signaling the urgency of getting products to customers more quickly amid rising competition from EBay Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Consider Amazon’s center in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which opened in 2011 after about 10 months, compared with as much as two years for older warehouses. Boasting more space and technology that makes it easier to find items, the building is part of Amazon’s almost $13.9 billion spending binge on fulfillment expenses -- including 50 new facilities -- since 2010. That’s more than the company spent on warehouses in its lifetime and brought the total to 89 at the end of 2012. Amazon has announced five more in the U.S. this year.“We’ve standardized them in such a way that opening them and replicating them happens very fast,” Dave Clark, vice president of worldwide operations and customer service, said in an interview at the Chattanooga building...

...If Amazon can place fulfillment centers nearer to the top 20 U.S. metropolitan areas, the company could reach 50 percent of the U.S. population with same-day delivery, compared with 15 percent now, according to supply chain consultants MWPVL International...

...This has become more automated in the past five years through internal software and “commodity material handling equipment” called Amazon Fulfillment Engines, Clark said. The engines decide what a worker will pick next off a shelf, where that order will be routed to in the facility and where it will be combined with other items that eventually arrive as a single shipment to the customer.

Amazon is now using cookie-cutter building designs too, speeding up how fast it gets each center to scale. It takes eight to 10 months to build and fill a center with shelves and people, down from a two-year process half a decade ago...

...“Every time we open a building, we take the lessons learned, we redo the design and open the next year’s,” Clark said. “It’s sort of like cars. We’ll very quickly incorporate what we learned this fall from the 2013 buildings and launch the 2014 model.”