22. March 2009 by Dan Walkow, CFA, CMT.

RICHARD S. LEFRAK and A. GARY SHILLING suggest in a recent article in the Wall Street Journal that Immigrants to the USA can Help Fix the Housing Bubble They say that:

The Obama administration should seriously consider granting resident status to foreigners who buy surplus houses in this country. This makes more sense than the president’s $275 billion housing bailout plan, which Americans greeted with a Bronx cheer. Read full article here

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22. March 2009 by Dan Walkow, CFA, CMT.

Here are some charts showing how Brazil is outperforming both Canada and the US markets. Click on the charts to enlarge.

Charts courtesy of Stockcharts.com

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22. March 2009 by Dan Walkow, CFA, CMT.

 Ontario’s dramatic decline comes as no accident..

“An analysis from leading Bay Street economist Dale Orr said Ontarians’ standard of living had plummeted — from a peak of 15% above the Canadian average in the mid-1980s to just more than 5%. Accompanying the analysis was a warning of further erosion by 2010.

Reflecting today on that report, Mr. Orr said his nightmare scenario for Ontario has unfolded as envisaged. If anything, the situation in the province may be worse.”

It is not just those “corporate bums and financial sharpies” that got us into this mess, public policy such as the Ontario agenda have made a strong contribution.

As the Obama agenda unfolds, spending money they don’t have, how do they hope to stimulate economic activity, employment and trade? Ontario may be the “poster boy” for this line of well-intentioned public policy but the results are damming.

From a investment perspective I am becoming increasingly concerned that new and proposed public policies in the United States and Canada  are making a bad situation worse not better.

Maybe North American politicos should take a lesson from Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva who seems to be one of the few politicians who has succeeded in promoting a socialist agenda while at the same time advancing economic growth.

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