Record low bond yields have intensified the pressure on pension funds already struggling to provide for retirees who are living longer. This squeeze has widened the pension deficit for hundreds of funds globally, prompting fears of a slow-moving but painful social crisis. The FT’s John Authers and Robin Wigglesworth explain. Here is a direct audio link.
Recently some fellow 50-something friends and I were expressing the pure joy of riding our bikes. Whether touring other places or around my home town, I reconnect with the energy and optimism of my 12 year old self on a bike. Carbon-free, good for body, soul and mind–apparently such adoration has a long tradition. This lovely article explains, see Cycling as a cure for creative block: a charming 1926 case for why the bicycle is the ideal vehicle for writers. May we ride more and feel old less.
“When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race.” –H.G. Wells
Having laid back and surfed the wave of easy money during the late great commodities supercycle 2001-2011 (courtesy of the greatest consumer credit/derivatives/China bubble ever in history–now bursting), Canada missed retooling (under the oil-focused Harper government) to a more productive, diversified economy. Now we are paying the economic price and are likely to continue to for some time. It will be no easy or quick fix. But with the overhang of excess capacity, goods and materials still mammoth in the world, and the US dollar in a secular strengthening mode, the next commodities boom is likely many years away. Necessity is the mother of invention. Luckily we really have no choice but to get a lot more efficient and creative from here.
The two-year oil slump has mired Canada in one of the weakest stretches of growth in its history. So there’s some urgency to the search for alternative models. Here is a direct video link.
Consolidating since April, the Canadian dollar may well wobble longer yet, especially as our high debt and vulnerable property markets become a topic of international concern.
