Ch5
Ch 5
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=bd74c16c-2845-4cbb-8812-453ccc261b2c&k=91189
This article analyzes the possible connection between population and economic growth. It takes a look specifically at two provinces in Canada: Newfoundland and Saskatchewan. These two provinces have both experienced decreasing populations (about 1% each) – however, both of their real GDPs have gone way up (Saskatchewan = 14.3% and Newfoundland = 27.9%). While this article acknowledges that this is an impressive accomplishment, there is definitely more going on underneath the surface.
Both Newfoundland and Saskatchewan rely heavily on their resource markets; this is what is driving up their GDPs. Should anything negative happen to the prices of their resources, the GDP is sure to plunge. This is so because employment hasn’t been spectacular in either of these two provinces. Not only that, they are losing potential employees to other more attractive provinces such as Alberta and British Columbia. On the flip side, Ontario and Quebec (who have had increasing populations) had some of the worst GDP’s among Canadian provinces. This was because their population growth was largely due to immigrants coming in. While they may still be able to pull in high incomes because of their skills, they probably still need time to adapt to a new country and a new job. This indicates a possible inverse relationship between GDP and population growth.
This relates to Chapter 5 because we are currently learning about economic indicators and the gross domestic product. Based on what we’ve learned about different kinds of unemployment (frictional, seasonal, etc), I would say that Newfoundland and Saskatchewan experienced heavy increases in unemployment because of seasonal unemployment – both of these provinces rely greatly on their resources, so they would probably have drastically fluctuating population numbers. Also, seasonal unemployment tends to be very uninviting because there really is no solution to it – all you can do is wait for the seasons to change, for the time to pass. Because of this, these two provinces are losing out to other more attractive areas in terms of work force retainment. Ontario and Quebec, neither of which is rich in resources, have declining GDP’s because they probably have to import more products (imports are subtracted from the GDP). Because of the special circumstances in these four provinces (seasonal unemployment, international immigration) I would go against what this article at first glance suggests and say that GDP and population growth go hand in hand (as opposed to having an inverse relationship).
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=bd74c16c-2845-4cbb-8812-453ccc261b2c&k=91189
This article analyzes the possible connection between population and economic growth. It takes a look specifically at two provinces in Canada: Newfoundland and Saskatchewan. These two provinces have both experienced decreasing populations (about 1% each) – however, both of their real GDPs have gone way up (Saskatchewan = 14.3% and Newfoundland = 27.9%). While this article acknowledges that this is an impressive accomplishment, there is definitely more going on underneath the surface.
Both Newfoundland and Saskatchewan rely heavily on their resource markets; this is what is driving up their GDPs. Should anything negative happen to the prices of their resources, the GDP is sure to plunge. This is so because employment hasn’t been spectacular in either of these two provinces. Not only that, they are losing potential employees to other more attractive provinces such as Alberta and British Columbia. On the flip side, Ontario and Quebec (who have had increasing populations) had some of the worst GDP’s among Canadian provinces. This was because their population growth was largely due to immigrants coming in. While they may still be able to pull in high incomes because of their skills, they probably still need time to adapt to a new country and a new job. This indicates a possible inverse relationship between GDP and population growth.
This relates to Chapter 5 because we are currently learning about economic indicators and the gross domestic product. Based on what we’ve learned about different kinds of unemployment (frictional, seasonal, etc), I would say that Newfoundland and Saskatchewan experienced heavy increases in unemployment because of seasonal unemployment – both of these provinces rely greatly on their resources, so they would probably have drastically fluctuating population numbers. Also, seasonal unemployment tends to be very uninviting because there really is no solution to it – all you can do is wait for the seasons to change, for the time to pass. Because of this, these two provinces are losing out to other more attractive areas in terms of work force retainment. Ontario and Quebec, neither of which is rich in resources, have declining GDP’s because they probably have to import more products (imports are subtracted from the GDP). Because of the special circumstances in these four provinces (seasonal unemployment, international immigration) I would go against what this article at first glance suggests and say that GDP and population growth go hand in hand (as opposed to having an inverse relationship).
posted by Grace at
7:57 PM
4 Comments:
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wini_lao, at 11:46 PM
Hi Grace! Based on what we learned in chapter 5, we know that although the GDP in Saskatchewan and Newfoundland is very high, we cannot say that these two provinces have good standards of living. For example, increased government spending on cleaning pollution will increase the GDP, but it doesn't necessary indicate a high standard of living. The article suggests that population and GDP has an inverse relationship, so I assume that if GDP increases at a faster rate than the population of an area, then it indicates a good standard of living. In this case, the population of Saskatchewan and Newfoundland is increasing slowly, so it seems like the standard of living there is not too bad. Also, it seems like the unemployment rate in Ontario will increase. Although there are lots of jobs available in Ontario, however with so many immigrants in Ontario and people moving in from other provinces, there are not enough jobs for everyone, which will cause frictional unemployment. Even though there are lots of jobs available, umemploymnet will still increase because many people sought jobs.
W. Lao
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wini_lao, at 11:47 PM
Hey Grace. Nice Article; from what we have studied in class, standard of living does not necessarily pertain to the amount of GDP a person has. Why do you think the GDP is growing so fast? Saksatchewan and Newfoundland don't have a lot to offer in terms of macroeconomics. Both provinces are fairly resourceful and they rely heavily on the their resources. For example, Saskatchewan relies on their wheat because they known for their abundant annual wheat production and Newfoundland is more of a fishing land, it's known for it's local fisheries. What would happen to these places if they lost their resources? More importantly, what would happen to their job markets? Now that's something to think about. There would be a serious demand deficiency if these two provinces lost their most prestigious resource. Overall, I loved your article about GDP. Rock on. JC4Life!
By
Jimmy, at 2:52 AM
the GDP currently in Saskatchewan and Newfoundland probably will not last for long. With a decreasing population trend that i think would continue for years to come and the provinces' educated workforce outsourcing to the West or Ontario for that matter, their GDP will surely go down within the next decade. I am not an economist, I can't say. Regardless if the scenario is on the scale of either an entire nation or simply a province, if it depends solely on natural resources for its GDP/governmental income it would surely have catastrophic results in the near future. There is a possibility that the natural resources would be depleted. Seems like my parents made the right decision to settle in BC than in the prairies or the lonesome maritimes.
J. Wong
By
professorwong, at 4:15 PM
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