Op-Ed: Harper’s economic index: an 8-year report card

Alex Roberts, Ottawa Citizen, January 22, 2014| Last Updated: May 20, 2014 

Eight years after the January, 2006 election that brought the Conservatives to power under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Alex Roberts looks at the state of the Canadian economy. Not to be confused with the Harper’s Magazine’s monthly index of “ironic statistics arranged for thoughtful effect.”
•Estimated amount spent on taxpayer-funded advertisements since 2009 touting the “Economic Action Plan” and the government’s economic record : $113,000,000
•National unemployment rate in January, 2006: 6.6
•National unemployment rate in December, 2013: 7.2
•Increase in the number of unemployed in Canada since January 2006: 236,200
•Youth unemployment rate, January 2006: 12.2
•Youth unemployment rate, December 2013: 14.0
•Rank of Canada’s unemployment rate in 2013 compared to other G7 countries: 3rd
•Rank of Canada among the 34 OECD nations in employment creation 2007-2012: 20th
•Number of governments since 1935 that have presided over a slower rate of real economic growth per capita than the Harper Conservatives: 0
•Number of consecutive annual federal budget deficits: 6
•Number of budget deficit targets hit by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty: 0
•Number of consecutive annual federal budget surpluses under the previous Liberal (Chrétien/Martin) governments: 9
•Amount added to the federal national debt since Conservatives took power in 2006: $123,500,000,000
•Number of years it would take to count to 123,500,000,000, counting non-stop at one number per second: 3,913
•Portion of the total federal debt accumulated since 2006: 1/5
•Budget surplus in percentage terms, relative to the nominal GDP, 2006: +1.6
•Budget balance in percentage terms, relative to the nominal GDP, 2013: -3.0
•Percentage increase in the inflation-adjusted average hourly manufacturing wage, 2006-2013: 0
•Percentage drop in productivity (GDP produced per employed person), 2006 to September 2013: 1.9
•Percentage increase in the number of federal civil servants, 2005-2012: 14
•Exchange rate of the Canadian dollar (cents US), January 2006: 87
•Exchange rate of the Canadian dollar (cents US), December 2013: 94
•Consecutive monthly merchandise trade deficits: 23
•Percentage increase in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, 2006-2013: 55.1
•Percentage increase in the TSX Composite Index, 2006-2013: 16.1
•Average house price, January 2006 : $256,537
•Average house price, December 2013 : $389,119
•Amount Canadians owed for every $1 in disposable income they earned, 2005: $1.30
•Amount Canadians owed for every $1 in disposable income they earned, 2013: $1.64
•Decima Research Index of Consumer Confidence, December 2005: 84.8
•Decima Research Index of Consumer Confidence, December 2013: 84.4
•Percentage of the popular vote won by the Harper Conservatives in the 2006 election: 36
•Percentage of those questioned in a December Harris-Decima poll who would vote Conservative: 26

Sources: Statistics Canada, Trading Economics, Globe and Mail, Bank of Canada, Toronto Stock Exchange, Decima Research, the Economist Magazine, Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives, Parliamentary Budget Officer

Alex Roberts is a freelance writer and former statistics educator.
 

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