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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1984-09-12, Page 58Page 10•—Gros, roads;Sept. W. 1984 i'OR A SUSTAINED RECOVERY Popular remedies, seem- ingly a dime a dozen, are all wide of the mark as they fail to address our basic - economic. problems. No significant steps have been taken, for instance, to reduce the large debt burden - the crucial problem in any economic recovery. The whole structure of foreign debt is unstable and could come crashing down. As in the 1920s and 1930s, Mexico is having difficulty meeting its foreign debts. In the 1920s, Mexico's debt was approximately $1 billion or $66 per person. To put that in perspective, Mexico's foreign debt now is about $90 billion or $1,000 per person. In the 193Qs reliance was placed on its potential wealth, but, nevertheless, Mexico failed to pay its, debts. Peru, Chile, Brazil, Uruguay and several Central American republics also de- faulted soon thereafter. Today, even adjusti��i►g for in- flation, the situation is al- most infinitely -worse throughout Latin America. Now there is a de facto de- fault on 'most foreign debt, with interest payments in many cases being made only from additional credit. Banks in North America have loaned money as bank officials were rewarded . by the. volume of loans they placed on the books, regard- less of the credit worthiness of the bojowers. Private debt in the United States has risen from ap- proximately 90 per cent of GNP in 1960 to 120 per cent of GNP last year, and is now at levels comparable to those that prevailed just before the 'Depression of 'the 1930s. Similarly, household debt, which was 1.4 times personal disposable . income in '1952, • has. climbed to 3.4 times per - Cnad's usiness by Bruce Whitestone sonal disposable income last year. Not only has private sector borrowing demand been quite strong in the United States,, but Federal govern- ment ' borrowing has been enormous. As a con- sequence, the cost of serv- icing the national debt has risen exponentially. For in- stance, Federal net interest payments on the U.S. debt have climbed from just over 1 per cent of GNP in1960 to 3 per cent this year. If interest rates and deficits continue to mot1 e growth in the in- terest bill will become ex- plosive. The experience of some other countries when interest cost became so bur- densome was that central banks "monetized" the debt, printed money at a rapid rate to meet their obli- gations. . There is another require- ment for a sustained re- covery ! in .the North American economy: a change in attitudes and skills. Many of the responses to our current troubles are ev.en counter-prpductive. Unemployment insurance payments encourage unem- ployment and our welfare system too oftendiscourages work. There has .been a poor fit of job training -and oppor- tunities so that there are s lortages in certain fields. and unemployment in others. Hence, we have had to import workers to fill some job vacancies, and yet there are 1.5 million unem- ployed in Canada and 8 million jobless in the United States. Moreover, •the bail-out mentality prolongs the mis- allocation of resources, even though occasionally bridge financing does tide com- panies over temporary diffi- culties, as was the case with Chrysler Corporation. As well, trade harriers do not At wit's end by Erma Bombeck The Olympics have been over for weeks now. 'Los Angeles freeways are back to gridlock: Bilingual cab drivers are once again back to their first language — Yugoslavian. And the promises I made to myself as I sat therein front of my TV set for 180 hours, wat- ching those young, taut, . muscular bodies being pushed to the maximum, have gone to that big spetic tank in the sky. I made a resolution during those two weeks that my entire life was going to change. I was going to challenge my +®ody to do things it never thought were possible. Discipline was going ,to become a way of life. Pain would ,retake me stronger and strengthen my character. I made a schedule. First, I was going to take all my hanwashables that I had stashed away for the last eight years,(and which equal my body weight) and eventually build up to lifting them over my head and hold- ing them there for 30 seconds. Them I was going to run the 26 miles to the shopping center each day, stripped ,down to a pair of satin shorts, a sleeveless T-shirt and two major charge cards. I set goals for myself. I knew through conscientious exerecise and perserverance I could park in a five-minute unloading zone, sprint 400 yards to a White Sale, get four matching single per- cales and be back in the car before I was ticketed. I geared the entire house toward fitness In each door frame I put two hanging rings so that every time I went through them, I could hang in an iron cross. The clothes hamper had a hoop over it. I kept a stack of the kids' favorite albums and each day I planned to step in- side of a circle, spin around until I nearly screwed my body into the ground and throw the album for as many promote efficiency and could (and should, in some cases) invite retaliation. Also, the elimination of ex- cess capacity is necessary for real economic growth. Many state that the growth of new industries wi11 lift us' out of economic stagnation. However, with so much ex- cess capacity and unused fa- cilities, new 'industries will use existing structures rather than new buildings. The constraints of excess ca- pacity will tend to depress activity much more than "high-technology" develop- ments can stimulate busi- ness. Excess capacity will remain in place fora long time and will put a damper on long 'term economic ex- pansion. This problem can only be diminished by de- veloping new markets. Overall, government measures frequently create yards as I could toss it. The fact than none of this has worked out for me is not important. What is crucial here is that up until now I could never figure out why there were four years be- tween each Olympaid. Naive little fool that I .am, I thought it took the host country that long to build all the facilities needed for the events. No, no. It takes four years to find a swim team that has the courage to get into a bathing suit with legs that ko all the way up to the armpits. How easy do you think it is to unearth six girls:who can balance themselves on a 4 - inch bar and hold in their stomachs at the same time? Or who can guide a horse across an 8 -foot bar without ripping her pants. . I'm taking raw courage here. Oh sure, a lot of us have the right stuff. It's just in the wrong places. {t Naturally Yours CurrantS9 99 uncertainty and, therefore, delay investment in new en- terprise. A longer term focus is required if changes are to be productive. Unless we attack our ft{n- damental difficulties, a"con- tinuing economic recovery simply will not take place over the next few years. RETURN WITH US TO... ef/44019/1? 1141.IN' SAM, /hit ' MAN' WAS ONE (> EARLIEST SINGING !>IAK`.'. 5L5 F*Rtir NE WURh F'FX,(,R AM eEeAN C)V I (.135 IN 1930. MAI. MA'.(,,, GiAKtlA„)[ ) am/1/I, Nc,[ArHtr2, N(, NUEi /N we / Y .UR NAL,. )N, THEW / t (>/N TYLE NROe,RAM4-, TH Mt, SUN(J I C., I tit 1 t 1NE OF ” TAMMANY" WA•-, t,INE C)F RAU10'S 91551 •>IN(�INC� (,.)MME R(. IALt, • KtAt NAME WAS- I,ARrt, F RANI(91 J 1411.1 (_14e, :,•w. Drr,,, • 4 A Future for Angela A Future for the War Amps And when there are no more War Amputees? A question we are asked, and we have a very good answer. Angela Craig is a member of o Child Amputee Program and wears a special myo- electric arm and hand the War Amps,helped to provide. This kind of help, and the many programs we operate, will continue far into the future bei{.use when there are no longer War Amputees, we will become THE CANADIAN AMPUTEES FOUNDATION and will continue to offer children like Angela every hope for the brightest future. Amputees helping amputees. Our legacy will live on Wish to call us? Dial toll free: Metro Toronto residents: (416) 488-0600 Area Codes 519, 6.13, 705: 1-800-268-8821 All other codes: 1-800-268-8917 The War Amputations of Canada Is a registered charitable organization operated on a non-profit basis, under the control and direction entirely of our own members. Should you wish further Information please do not hesitate to contact us. Charitable Institution Registration number: 0286831-09-13 Donation Address: War Amputations of Canada, Key Tag Service, 140 Merton Street, Ontario M4S 1A5 DON'T LET QUACKGRASS BECOME A MORE COSTLYPROBLEM. • • tp: •�I • By R. FRANCIS KLEIN Currants — now here's a delightful variety from the seedless raisin family, but used almost exclusively for jams, jellies and baking. We got this fruit from Australia, where it grows on large bushes and is the favorite part of the diet of the Koala bear. One of the currant's most useful ingredients is the large amount of pectin that it contains. Currants in their native form are quite tough - skinned, so eating them un- cooked has never been , favored. Most currants are grown wild and are not culti- • vated as a large commercial crop. i "R. :a:1141 lay 40, * OIIIELITRE QUMKGR4SS. ROUNDUP FALL AFFORDABLE THAN Quackgrass is a costly thief. It robs your land and your yield. - Plowing only compounds the problerl by chopping up the quackgrags roots and ,spreading the nodes around. This causes the'quackgrass problem to get prd'gressively worse. A small patch soon becomes an entire infested field. That can end up costing you in less productive land and lower crop yields. Roundup® is the affordable, effective solution. Roundup at one litre per acre* (2.5L/ha) this. fall will effectively control quackgrass through to AFFORDABLE next year's harvest. It works on those nodes and rhizomes so it really gets to the root of your problem. And, unlike atrazine, Roundup leaves your cropping options open. You're free to rotate to the most profitable or most necessary crops. So, with gains of more productive land, choice of best crop, and increased yields, how can you afford not to use Roundup? •2.5L of Roundup per hectare in 50 to 1001, clear water per hectare. ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW LABEL DIRECTIONS. Roundup* is a registered trademark of Monsanto Company. Monsanto Canada Inv., registered user. a Monsanto Company, 1984. R -FE 1'2-84 Monsanto EFFECtIVE