It was regrettable that Justin Trudeau did not have room on his plane to take the new conservative leader to London. I was thinking that Justin could take in the pageantry of the funeral after dropping Pierre Poilievre off at the London School of Economics. The boy needs all the help on that subject he can get.
Over the years, I have met quite a few people who have been to that school. I find the conversation is enriched by their experience.
While considered reasonably intelligent, Mr. Poilievre desperately needs help in understanding some basics about the subject. Though I am reminded of the complaint by the late Harry S. Truman who said he wanted to hire a one-armed economist who could not say to him: “On the other hand, Mr. President.”
The problem with economics is that everything seems to be based on ranges. The Bank of Canada can use interest rates to deal with inflation but at the same time, has to be very wary of causing recession. And contrary to statements by Mr. Poilievre, the Bank of Canada does not print money at the behest of the prime minister. In fact, Mr. Poilievre might be very surprised at how little of Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP) actually involves printed currency.
And while Mr. Poilievre says he wants to fire the governor of the bank, he should be aware that it is a very active board of directors of the bank who provide the governor with advice and counsel.
The scariest aspect of Mr. Poilievre’s pseudo economics is his support of cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin is not real money. Cryptocurrencies are the equivalent of fool’s gold, mined on computers. They are an investment in fiction. They have no value other than what fools will pay.
My younger relatives might think I am over the hill and in my dotage but I am deeply concerned that they might be listening to this silly little man and his rage in going after the prime minister’s office. He really needs to be brought up short.
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