The Canadian Government should provide cheap financing...

[Asher]

Here:

Canada is like the Third World, apparently. Labor is relatively cheaper than capital.

Depends where you are. In Ontario, yes. They were hit by a decline in manufacturing which meant an influx of cheap labour from uneducated people. The propensity for unions over there doesn't help productivity either.

Alberta is a different matter...wasn't too long ago that entry level Dairy Queen workers were making $14/hr.

[Asher]

I work for a Canadian-owned, Canadian-managed, Canadian-staffed company that's fairly capital-intense.

[MikeH]

You must be mega unproductive.

[Asher]

*points to his postcount*

[MikeH]

Hey, I just remembered Quebec, that probably explains the productivity difference. You know what those lazy Frogs are like.

[Dauphin]

Then charge the interest payments to Canada. If you get any trouble, get a court in Texas to help you out. :hicksgillette:

I read the restraining order in full. I'm still having difficult understanding why the Texas Court thought it had jurisdiction over the case. I know US law applies everyone, but still.....

[DaShi]

for foreign companies to buy out Canadian firms.

The rationale behind this is quite simple; namely, it has been demonstrated that labor productivity at Canadian-owned companies in Canada is relatively low compared to the US and Western Europe, but labor productivity at foreign-owned firms in Canada is similar to that in the US and Western Europe (I believe that the results I've seen control for size and capital depth of company, but feel free to correct me if I misremember).

It appears that Canadian management of Canadian workers is particularly inefficient. Why this situation persists may have something to do with regulatory hurdles in purchasing Canadian companies, the language barrier or simple isolationism of Canadian capital markets and relative stodginess of Canadian financial intermediaries.

This seems to be a slam-dunk; the Canadian government should attempt to pick up this free lunch, and lend money at favorable rates to foreign companies looking to bring better management to Canadian firms. The empirical and the theoretical justification behind this approach is quite sturdy, IMO.

Discuss.

Learn Chinese.