Imagine Waking from an 8-Year Coma – Reflections from the Last ECM Wave
The year 2015 was not long ago, and yet the entire world economy has changed. Central banks mismanaged monetary policy through arbitrarily low interest rates and continuous printing to appease the bigger issue—fiscal policy. Fiscal policies are all but nonexistent in most of the modern world, and government spending has become one of the largest threats to the global economy. The COVID lockdown pushed these issues into overdrive, and world leaders usurped power that they have refused to relinquish.
This is a global issue. Canada’s opposition leader Pierre Poilievre has highlighted how much has changed within one ECM cycle, as the last major turning point hit in 2015, and asked Parliament to imagine they had awoken from an 8-year coma.
Eight short years ago, Canada boasted one of the strongest middle classes in the modern world, surpassing that of America. Taxes were actually declining in Canada, falling faster than at any other time in the nation’s history. Crime had decreased by -25%, and people felt safe in their hometowns. The immigration system was efficient, the borders were closed, and there was no migrant crisis. Housing was affordable, costing less than half of what it does today. The nation had a balanced budget.
Poilievre mentioned that there were global conflicts at the time in Syria, Afghanistan, and even Ukraine but none of them were causing inflation at home. Prime Minister Harper had much different policies in place.
Inflation is now rampant, and even after hitting a 40-year high in 2023, it remains 50% above the 2% central bank target. Canada’s economy is shrinking per capita and is expected to have the worst OECD growth of all 40 member countries for the next five years. There is a massive housing crisis in Canada, surpassing that of America, and homelessness is on the rise. The Canadian borders are open, migrants are encouraged to come to the nation despite the lack of housing, and millions of unvetted migrants are now within Canadian boundaries. Taxes are rapidly rising as Trudeau supports World Economic Forum initiatives like carbon taxes and reducing fossil fuels at the expense of the people. Canada has sent a fortune to Ukraine and continues recklessly spending on initiatives that in no way benefit Canadians.
Poilievre is on Trudeau’s tail. It is no wonder that nearly half of Canadians wish to elect a new leader in 2024 instead of 2025. Trudeau is losing his grip over the Canadian people who have become disgruntled with the unsustainable cost of living, rising crime, and increasingly tyrannical government.
It is incredible how much can change within one wave of the ECM. I can assure you that the world will be a very different place by the next one.
