HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1989-08-23, Page 7of inflation
THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 23, 1989. PAGE 7.
The International
Scene
First aid money
Debbie Trollop, the representative for
Ambulance accepts a $250 cheque from
Captain of the Brussels Fire Department. The money is part of
the proceeds from the Firemen’s breakfast during Brussels
Funfest and will be used for first aid training equipment. The
Brussels Fire Department donated the rest of their breakfast
proceeds ($250) to Muscular Dystrophy.
the St. John’s
Doug Sholdice,
Grey Twp.
woman injured
Two area women sustained
minor injuries following a single
vehicle accident which occurred in
Grey Township at 6:20 on Saturday
evening.
A spokesperson from the Wing
ham OPP detachment stated that
Elsie Kitzman 31, of RR 3, Brus
sels, was travelling eastbound at a
speed of 85 kilometres an hour on
County Road 25 approximately .6
kilometres east of sideroad 5-6.
According to police, Ms. Kitzman
turned to speak to a passenger in
the car, 62-year-old Theresa Mur
ray of Seaforth, when the 1983
Mazda she was driving left the
roadway, entered the north ditch,
rolled over, and came to rest on the
roof top.
Ms. Kitzman was taken to Lis-
towel Memorial Hospital by private
vehicle and Mrs. Murray was taken
by ambulance to Seaforth and
District Hospital where they were
treated for their injuries.
OPP report that the Kitzman
vehicle was demolished. Both wo
men were wearing seat belts at the
time of the accident.
Brussels people
Continued from page 2
on Queen Street; Kevin and Marie
Bernard and family on Tumberry
Street; Rev. Carolyn McAvoy on
Princess Street; Albert and Barb
Allen on Queen Street; John and
Karen Quesenberry and son Cory,
on James Street; and Martin and
Louise VanBeek, also on Queen
Street.
There are apparently a few
openings left for Playschool, which
will begin in October. If you have a
child three or four years of age and
would like to enroll them, contact
Barb Mutter.
The ugly head
BY RAYMOND CANON
One of the nice things about my
profession is that we get to see
what is going on in other countries.
Along with that comes a realization
that each country has its own set of
problems although sometimes the
same problem seems to emerge to
afflict us all. One of the latter is the
appearance once again of creeping
inflation, something that we
thought we had licked earlier this
decade. It wasn’t dead, it seems,
only taking a nap!
As 1 explained in one of my
earlier articles, there is more than
one cause of inflation. It may be a
government printing too much
money, it could also be workers
asking for more money or consum
ers wanting more goods and ser
vices than the economy is capable
of producing. It could also be that
our exchange rate makes imported
goods more expensive than they
should be. Not surprisingly, it
could be and often is a combination
of all or most of these things.
One word that I like to use about
inflation is ‘insidious’. If you don’t
watch it, it sneaks up on you; even
if you think you are watching it, it
comes anyway. It takes a disciplin
ed country to keep it in line and in
this respect Canada falls in about
the middle of the pack. We are not
subject to the bouts of hyperinfla
tion that seem to be the lot of most
Latin American countries at one
MEAT DEPARTMENT
PRICES IN EFFECT UNTIL CLOSING SATURDAY AUGUST 26/89
FRESH PORK
79STORE MADE Picnic Roasts
FARMER'S
SAUSAGE
Plain or Garlic
1.89 750 G. SizeMAPLE LEAF
3.99Burgerslb
SEE THIS WEEK'S FLYER FOR MORE MONEY SAVING SPECIALS...
time or another but we do not show
the discipline of either the Ger
mans or the Swiss. However, even
the latter two are now beginning to
worry a bit; they feel that the time
has come to show more concern
than they have in the past.
The latest statistics that 1 have
show that, while none of the major
industrial nations have found them
selves in the double digit bracket,
they are moving in that direction.
Gt. Britain leads the pack with 8.3
per cent and things appear to be
getting worse. Italy, Australia, and
Sweden are right behind; the
lowest country is Holland at only
one per cent which is at the present
time the height of economic virtue.
Even the Swiss at three per cent
cannot match that which must be
causing a lot of sleepless nights in
Bern. As I indicated about, Canada
usually finds itself in the middle of
the list and so it is that we are
sporting a 5.4 per cent rate. This
would be heaven to the Argentini
ans who see their prices go up
about that much every day.
What do countries do in such a
situation? In Canada we have seen
the central bank react by raising
the bank rate; that is, they want to
make money more expensive to
borrow. This should lead
reduction in spending but it
not happen overnight. If you
been complaining about the
interest rates however they
affect you, there is some consola
tion in the fact that this is a
traditional move, not one which
happens only in Canada. Interest
rates in Gt. Britain are about four
to five per cent higher than here
to a
does
have
high
may
FRESH BONELESS
Pork Butt Roast .49
FRESH GROUND
Medium Beef *1 .49.
DEVON 500 G.
Bacon J .79
while in Australia they are six to
seven per cent higher. For some of
you that may bring back memories
about what happened here in the
early 1980’s when we were grapp
ling with double digit inflation.
These high interest rates usually
bring on a recession of some sort;
they certainly did here in 1981-82;
the worst we have had since the
end of World War II. There is a
lesson in this for all countries; the
sooner you come to grips with the
threat of inflation, the less likely
you are to have any kind of a
recession.
However, it seems to be a lesson
that few people want to take to
heart; when you are making good
money and spending it or even
borrowing more, you don’t want
anybody, least of all the govern
ment, to talk to you about modera
tion. Governments, for their part,
do no like to run the risk of losing
votes so they hold back as much as
possible on the criticism until it is
unfortunately too late. This
as much in such countries
Britain, Australia, or the
States as it is in Canada.
Some of the things that have
made a substantial contribution to
the current round of inflation in the
industrialized world is increased
consumer demand for goods and
services, wage increases that can
not be offset by a productivity
growth and also increases in in
direct taxes. A growing value of our
Canadian dollar on international
money markets has shielded us
from some of the higher prices for
imports but now that this value has
Continued on page 8
is true
as Gt.
United