Where the Rubber Hits the Road

The Economic Message of Pope Francis’ ‘Evangelii Gaudium’ | Daily News | NCRegister.com

Finally some good economic news from below the border! U.S. jobs: Numbers blow past forecasts | Investing | Financial Post

An interesting article that is calling for a new definition of what a 'recession' is. Given the rapidity of our modern economies to react to changing conditions, the author may have a valid point. CTV News | Economic fits and starts: Are we in for ‘flash’ recessions?

Sure hope not! Times are here dire in Mattawa with a sharp decline in the local population because people are leaving town to find work. Long periods of separation with couples living in different regions of the country is hard to sustain in the long run and the stresses upon families lives is becoming all too clear. We need some enterprise to move into the town to offer at least a chance at long term employment for people living in the area to replace at least some of the jobs lost in the collapse of the forestry industry. That's not likely to happen if economic factors are pointing to another period of stagflation in our immediate and near term future. The folks of the Ottawa Valley are a resilient lot, but it's hard to defy the law of economics that states it takes a rising tide to lift all ships... even for the most tenacious and deeply rooted of people. CTV News | Did Canada's economy stall out in February?

Y ou cannot double the money supply (as the US and most western countries did during the recession) without there being serious consequences. I fear that the US will not aggressively address this scourge, seeing inflation as a means of reducing the real value of its debts to foreign lenders. If they follow that path, we will probably see a return to the inflationary cycles of the 1960-80's. I really hope that I am wrong, but I fear interest rates will eventually rise to try to wring inflation out of the system, as that has proven to be the only effective way of beating it in the past. Why inflation is on the radar screen - The Globe and Mail

Don't you wish you had a gold brick tucked away for a 'rainy day'? If the premise of this article is correct, we might be headed for a financial monsoon season! CTV News | How high will gold go? There are some scary visions out there

A Tennessee hospital is facing a possible emergency injunction after Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed legal papers today to save the life of nine-month-old Gabriel Palmer. East Tennessee Children’s Hospital says it may abandon his medical care, resulting in the child’s death. Baby Gabriel was born prematurely with a genetic abnormality, club foot, and narrow airway, but he flourished when he went home from the hospital in June. There, he grew, played, and received physical therapy while going to regular doctor visits. He was fed through a tube and received some oxygen and medications. On an October weekend, when the baby’s regular doctors were unavailable, Catherine Palmer took her son to the ETCH emergency room because of breathing problems. After interventions by the medical staff, the baby went into shock, developed pulmonary vascular disease, and was placed on a respirator. ETCH recently began giving up on Baby Gabriel’s care, and on Nov. 13, the head of ETCH’s PICU, D...