How Is Global Consumer Confidence? Don’t Ask The CBC.

It’s the same poll, but it really depends upon the source you read it from. If you happened to read CTV’s byline, it indicates some hopefulness: “Global consumer confidence stabilizing: poll.” Unfortunately, if you read CBC, you might not be quite so chipper: “Global consumers still lack confidence in economy: poll.”

While CTV begins with the summary that global consumer confidence is stabilizing after three straight semesters of decline, CBC goes straight to the bad news, saying that just over two-thirds of the world’s consumers believe that economic prospects are neutral to poor. What is interesting is that two news organizations could present so different an impression of how the poll affects global consumer confidence in the recession, and can leave people with distinctly different thoughts.

CBC reports that “only” 29% of 23,000 individuals in 23 countries believe the economic situation was “very good or somewhat good” [as though that number would be surprising in a recession]. Using the data from April, CBC therefore concludes that “more than two-thirds of 75%” [an odd usage of a fraction of a percentage] of the world’s population [actually, of 23,000 individuals] hold a negative view of the planet’s economic prospects. If that weren’t depressing enough, the CBC wants you to know that things really, really suck:

No warm and fuzzy here

All told, the Ipsos-Reid poll painted a bleak picture of consumer confidence.

The current level of positive sentiment concerning the economy was 14 percentage points less than the 43 per cent polled last April, when many countries were seeing slowing GDP growth. But the recession was still months off.

Yet according to the Ipsos Reid poll itself, the key findings were written as:

- “glimmers of hope” for the global economy
- after three straight semesters of decline, global consumer confidence has stabilized in last two
- 73% have cut household expenses, but not deepened in last two semesters indicating more stabilization
- cuts have been non-essential items

That’s it. That’s the no-spin findings of a poll that somehow got reported by the CBC as “bleak”, not “warm and fuzzy”, and characterized as “consumers still lack confidence in economy”, and “that economic prospects are neutral to poor.”

h/t Joel Johannesen

Liberals Manufacture Controversy, Rattle Election Sabres

Photograph by: Chris Wattie, Reuters

The Liberals predictably hammered on the Conservatives today, after Canwest released an article yesterday involving the listing of non-viable Crown corporations in federal Department of Finance documents under an “asset review”. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty was forced to defend himself strongly against the attacks, repelling the characterization of the asset review as a “fire sale” which the opposition accused the Conservatives as being an “ideological mission”.

Saying that this one-trick pony has been played a few times in the past, would be like pointing out that Calgary is west of Toronto. Ever since the Conservative Party was formed in October of 2003 between the Progressive Conservatives and the Canadian Alliance, we have heard no shortage of the “hidden agenda” forthcoming from opposition critics, alleging that former Reform Party ideologues are just waiting for an opportunity to take us “10 degrees to the right“. And now, just because Jim Flaherty wrote the 2009-10 fiscal budget with the expectation that the government could find $4 billion worth of crown assets to sell, the opposition Liberals have saddled up that pathetic half-dead pony once again:

“Will the government disclose its criteria for this review and guarantee that this is not an ideological mission to dump institutions such as the CBC, VIA Rail and Canada Post?” asked Liberal MP David McGuinty. “After all, they were all on the prime minister’s hit list when he was the head of policy with the Reform party.”

New Democrat MP Pat Martin called for a freeze on the review, arguing it would be unwise to sell Crown assets in a recession.

“France would not sell the Eiffel Tower any more than the United States would sell its Statue of Liberty,” he said. “The government might as well hang a billboard on the Peace Tower that says, ‘Fire Sale. Going out of Business. Everything Must Go.’ “

The fact is that it’s not just disingenuous to suggest that the Conservative government might possibly sell off crown corporations such as the CBC, VIA Rail and Canada Post as Mr.McGuinty indicates, it’s downright dishonest. Not only would such a move be politically controversial at the best of times and circumstances, the government enjoys a minority mandate, meaning that under the Financial Administration Act, Parliament must approve such sales in the House of Commons.

It couldn’t happen.

So what is the point of the sabre-rattling now from the Liberals? The speeches from Michael Ignatieff alleging that the Conservatives want to move “10 degrees to the right”, the obfuscations that crown corporations could be sold off on a whim, the panic to “fix” employment insurance?

The so-called “report card” amendment to the January 27 budget that calls for updates on the fiscal stimulus is due this month, yet under Canada’s Parliamentary budget process, the estimates put forth in the budget have yet to be tabled, and will still need to be voted on before final approval. It’s difficult to vote non-confidence in a stimulus budget that has only released an estimated 5% into the economy.

The Liberals talk about the state of finances, citing a TD Bank report that said the deficit could be more than $172 billion over the next five years, and at the same time are talking about implementing measures that enact a greater release of stimulus funds, leading to higher levels of debt. They talk about Employment Insurance Reform, but that wouldn’t affect those currently unemployed. They talk about the government having a “fire sale” of assets, when all they’ve done is evaluate which Crown corporations are “not self-sustaining”. The Liberals are talking a lot, but not much in the way of substance. Perhaps that’s why despite governing in a recession, the Conservatives are still tied with the Liberals in the polls.