Here is the link to the Solar Panel Price Survey:
http://www.ecobusinesslinks.com/solar_panels.htm
They keep it updated.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Home Renovation Tax Credit: Making Big Bang For Your Bucks
Effective January 27, 09 through Jan. 31, 2010, Canadian homeowners can claim a 15-per-cent tax credit against spending of more than $1,000 and capped at $10,000, with a maximum credit of $1,350. By comparison, the personal income-tax measures in the 2009 budget would amount to one-year savings of $483 for a two-earner family with two kids and income of $150,000.
The best thing about the Home Renovation Tax Credit is that it can be coupled with other government programs. For instance, making your home more energy-efficient can qualify you for grants of up to $5,000 under the ecoENERGY Retrofit Program and you will still be able to claim the Home Renovation Tax Credit.
The tax credit would apply to a variety of home improvements, such as renovating a kitchen, bathroom or basement, new carpet or hardwood floors, building an addition, deck, or fence, installing a new furnace, painting the inside or outside of a house, or laying new sod.
Expenses such as building permits, professional services, and equipment rentals are also eligible. Routine repairs, maintenance and purchasing furniture, appliances, electronics, or construction equipment will not qualify for the credit.
Houses, cottages and condominium units owned for personal use are eligible.
The government estimated the total value of the tax credit at about $3 billion, and expects about 4.6 million families to benefit.
The best thing about the Home Renovation Tax Credit is that it can be coupled with other government programs. For instance, making your home more energy-efficient can qualify you for grants of up to $5,000 under the ecoENERGY Retrofit Program and you will still be able to claim the Home Renovation Tax Credit.
The tax credit would apply to a variety of home improvements, such as renovating a kitchen, bathroom or basement, new carpet or hardwood floors, building an addition, deck, or fence, installing a new furnace, painting the inside or outside of a house, or laying new sod.
Expenses such as building permits, professional services, and equipment rentals are also eligible. Routine repairs, maintenance and purchasing furniture, appliances, electronics, or construction equipment will not qualify for the credit.
Houses, cottages and condominium units owned for personal use are eligible.
The government estimated the total value of the tax credit at about $3 billion, and expects about 4.6 million families to benefit.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
2009 Federal Budget: Lack of Ambitions
The 2009 Federal budget is a complete lack of vision and ambitions:
a) only $1 billion for "green" infrastructure, $1 billion for clean-energy research and a two-year, $1 billion Community Adjustment Fund to help single-industry communities adjust to economic hardship,
b) tax cuts to spending ratio ($22 billion to $25.5 billion) is dramatically different from Obama's proposals ($275 billion to $550 billion, respectively).
Thus, we will run into huge deficit even without an attempt to change something and create a competitive edge.
a) only $1 billion for "green" infrastructure, $1 billion for clean-energy research and a two-year, $1 billion Community Adjustment Fund to help single-industry communities adjust to economic hardship,
b) tax cuts to spending ratio ($22 billion to $25.5 billion) is dramatically different from Obama's proposals ($275 billion to $550 billion, respectively).
Thus, we will run into huge deficit even without an attempt to change something and create a competitive edge.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
"Smart" Money
"Smart money" are defined as the funds controlled by investors who should have special knowledge of the right kinds of investments to make. Essentially, the term refers to funds controlled by insiders or to institutional money. The implication is that if the individual investor can figure out where the smart money is going, he or she can follow suit and make above-average profits.
Given that the Dow Industrial is down 33.5% over the year and group average for 2935 International Stocks funds on morningstar.com is -45.1% over the same period should we still consider these money "smart"?
Given that the Dow Industrial is down 33.5% over the year and group average for 2935 International Stocks funds on morningstar.com is -45.1% over the same period should we still consider these money "smart"?
Monday, January 26, 2009
Infrastructure Spending vs. Tax Cuts
CIBC economist Benjamin Tal estimated every $10-billion of spending on infrastructure can potentially create about 115,000 Canadian jobs and lift economic growth by almost 1.5 percentage points.
According to Tal, personal tax cuts of a comparable $10-billion would create half the number of jobs – 57,000 – and boost GDP by just 0.8 percentage points.
Thus, infrastructure spending is much more efficient than tax cuts, however, is less efficient than investment in healthcare. According to David Macdonald from the Alternative Federal Budget Project at the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives, putting $1 billion into healthcare would produce about 18,000 new jobs.
According to Tal, personal tax cuts of a comparable $10-billion would create half the number of jobs – 57,000 – and boost GDP by just 0.8 percentage points.
Thus, infrastructure spending is much more efficient than tax cuts, however, is less efficient than investment in healthcare. According to David Macdonald from the Alternative Federal Budget Project at the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives, putting $1 billion into healthcare would produce about 18,000 new jobs.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Canadian Stimulus Budget: Why Will It Fail?
In a few days our federal finance minister, Jim Flaherty, is going to unveil his “stimulus” budget and put us on the road to a $64 billion deficit over the next two years.
The only problem, it’s unlikely to accomplish much.
First of all, I suspect that Canada is not in a crisis at all. Yes, our economy is hit by a global financial crisis, where international banks, loaded with trillions of “toxic” assets stopped lending. It triggered the global economic misery and consequent drop in commodities prices. However, our situation is completely different. Our financial system is solid; our housing prices are much more sustainable with income than to the south of the border. Our economy is punched just through falling exports. So, any short-term actions to improve our economy should be focused mostly on increasing global demand on our commodities. And here definitely any government’s stimulus package will fail to deliver something meaningful. With 3% of global GDP we are not in a position to impact on global demand. Moreover, any other stimulus packages unveiled around the globe will have little positive impact until global financial system digests “toxic” assets and restores its functioning.
Second, the proposed budget likely is a mixture of infrastructure spending and tax cuts. Both of them likely will not work as expected. When newly converted Keynesians on both sides of the border propose to follow the prescription for 70 year old Great Depression, they probably forget that in the last case the infrastructure in the USA and Canada prior to the Great Depression was fairly inadequate. Thus, significant infrastructure upgrade not just employed millions of people; it also stimulated trade and manufacturing, which was the engine for next economic booms. Currently, situation is completely different. Definitely, it would be nice to have some aging infrastructure replaced or repaired; but such as we do not expect any significant advances in manufacturing, any significant infrastructure projects may employ temporarily thousands (but due to technology advances not millions) on low-paid jobs but will almost certainly fail to deliver the most crucial competitive edge, which will drive further economic development.
Tax cuts will likely have even smaller impact. Analyzing 2008 US stimulus package we can expect that most of tax savings will funnel to reduce individual consumer debt, while remaining part will be spent on import goods (e.g. electronics) rather than on domestic services. Thus, overall effect will be quite negligible.
Finally, this huge hole in the budget is a government’s panic reaction on coalition threat from opposition parties. In this case, the budget is likely not well thought. If money goes too quickly, they are wasted on poorly managed projects. If wisdom prevails and the government spends some time and thought to ensure that funds are well spent, the money arrives too late and the economy recovers by its own.
So, what to do? First of all, don’t rush and try to mimic the USA. We have a different set of problems, and they require different approaches. Second, economy definitely requires government intervention, but instead of blindly following John Maynard Keynes with infrastructure spending we have to understand his approach more generally. Thus, we have to build infrastructure, but infrastructure of the new economy. Not bridges and tunnels, but scientific centers and facilities. It will employ temporarily laid-off autoworkers, but it also employ people in long term on highly paid jobs and will eventually create competitive advantage for the Canadian economy.
And probably nothing we can do with the demand on our lumber, oil, and base metals. We either can wait until situation on global markets improves or try to mitigate its impact by building more sustainable and diverse economy.
P.S. Unfortunately, in current circumstances we don’t have a privilege to expect something meaningful and reasonable from the government. To please the opposition the government will spend our money on overpaid and poorly-managed projects and instead of enjoying the free ride on the huge US stimulus package we will dive deep into the debt.
The only problem, it’s unlikely to accomplish much.
First of all, I suspect that Canada is not in a crisis at all. Yes, our economy is hit by a global financial crisis, where international banks, loaded with trillions of “toxic” assets stopped lending. It triggered the global economic misery and consequent drop in commodities prices. However, our situation is completely different. Our financial system is solid; our housing prices are much more sustainable with income than to the south of the border. Our economy is punched just through falling exports. So, any short-term actions to improve our economy should be focused mostly on increasing global demand on our commodities. And here definitely any government’s stimulus package will fail to deliver something meaningful. With 3% of global GDP we are not in a position to impact on global demand. Moreover, any other stimulus packages unveiled around the globe will have little positive impact until global financial system digests “toxic” assets and restores its functioning.
Second, the proposed budget likely is a mixture of infrastructure spending and tax cuts. Both of them likely will not work as expected. When newly converted Keynesians on both sides of the border propose to follow the prescription for 70 year old Great Depression, they probably forget that in the last case the infrastructure in the USA and Canada prior to the Great Depression was fairly inadequate. Thus, significant infrastructure upgrade not just employed millions of people; it also stimulated trade and manufacturing, which was the engine for next economic booms. Currently, situation is completely different. Definitely, it would be nice to have some aging infrastructure replaced or repaired; but such as we do not expect any significant advances in manufacturing, any significant infrastructure projects may employ temporarily thousands (but due to technology advances not millions) on low-paid jobs but will almost certainly fail to deliver the most crucial competitive edge, which will drive further economic development.
Tax cuts will likely have even smaller impact. Analyzing 2008 US stimulus package we can expect that most of tax savings will funnel to reduce individual consumer debt, while remaining part will be spent on import goods (e.g. electronics) rather than on domestic services. Thus, overall effect will be quite negligible.
Finally, this huge hole in the budget is a government’s panic reaction on coalition threat from opposition parties. In this case, the budget is likely not well thought. If money goes too quickly, they are wasted on poorly managed projects. If wisdom prevails and the government spends some time and thought to ensure that funds are well spent, the money arrives too late and the economy recovers by its own.
So, what to do? First of all, don’t rush and try to mimic the USA. We have a different set of problems, and they require different approaches. Second, economy definitely requires government intervention, but instead of blindly following John Maynard Keynes with infrastructure spending we have to understand his approach more generally. Thus, we have to build infrastructure, but infrastructure of the new economy. Not bridges and tunnels, but scientific centers and facilities. It will employ temporarily laid-off autoworkers, but it also employ people in long term on highly paid jobs and will eventually create competitive advantage for the Canadian economy.
And probably nothing we can do with the demand on our lumber, oil, and base metals. We either can wait until situation on global markets improves or try to mitigate its impact by building more sustainable and diverse economy.
P.S. Unfortunately, in current circumstances we don’t have a privilege to expect something meaningful and reasonable from the government. To please the opposition the government will spend our money on overpaid and poorly-managed projects and instead of enjoying the free ride on the huge US stimulus package we will dive deep into the debt.
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