Is the drop in the price of oil affecting you?
Oil plunge: The plummeting price of oil has made transportation, heating, and manufacturing cheaper ...but there's a dark side: lost jobs in the oil patch, dwindling tax revenues, and a declining dollar.
How are the dropping prices affecting you?
GUESTS & LINKS
TWITTER & EMAIL
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INTRODUCTION
The plummeting price of oil has very much been a concern of many across the country who monitor the economy for changes that have real impact. Since last June the price has dropped by more than half ....from $110 US dollars per barrel to less than $50. And experts believe we haven't seen the end of it yet.
Canada weathered the 2008 recession largely on the strength of its oil economy but now things are changing fast.
Layoffs in the oil industry have already begun. This week one-thousand Suncor workers lost their jobs. The federal and provincial governments are re-examining their budgets facing the prospect of declining tax revenues.
But the news is not all bad. Lower fuel costs puts more money in the pockets of all Canadians, including businesses. Transportation, heating, and manufacturing will be cheaper.
The Canadian dollar has followed the dropping oil price, and while that will make imports more expensive, it will also boost Canadian exports of everything from manufactured goods to commodities -- important for a trading nation.
The effects of something as basic as a barrel of oil are complex and far-reaching. And that is why we'd like to hear your views.
What is going through your mind as you see and hear about all the changes that could take place? You must be benefiting already from cheaper gas and oil ...has that made a difference to your daily life? Are you driving more? What about the prospects of layoffs ...or on the brighter side, the potential for a revitalization of manufacturing industries? If you run a small business, what does it mean to you?
Our question today: "What do falling oil prices mean for you?"
I'm Rex Murphy ...on CBC Radio One ...and on Sirius XM, satellite radio channel 169 ...this is Cross Country Checkup.
GUESTS
Amanda Lang
CBC News Senior Business Correspondent.
Twitter: @AmandaLang_CBC
Paul Moist
National President of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
Twitter: @CUPENatPres
Melissa Blake
Mayor of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo / Fort McMurray.
Twitter: @MayorMelissa
Andrew Leach
Energy and environmental economist, Associate Professor at the Alberta School of Business at the University of Alberta.
Twitter: @andrew_leach
Ross Wiseman
Minister of Finance for Newfoundland and Labrador
LINKS
CBC.ca
- Oil slide to $10? Don't scoff, it's happened before: Don Pittis
- Election could hinge on oil and the economy: Don Pittis
- The loonie: Who wins, who loses when it takes a beating
- Alberta recession? The mindset is already setting in, by Kathleen Petty
- Suncor to cut 1,000 jobs in response to low oil prices
- Joe Oliver delays 2015 federal budget amid market volatility
- Will low oil prices force Ottawa to use reserve to balance budget?
National Post
- Federal budget to be delayed until April thanks to low oil prices
- Why current events make it seem likely Harper will call an early election, by John Ivison
- Blame oil: Cheap crude seen putting Canada’s recovery and surplus hopes at risk
- No B.C. carbon tax miracle on 120th St. by Terence Corcoran
- The carbon tax illogic, by Philip Cross
- Petroleum tax, your time has come, by Charles Krauthammer
- Why Canadians can expect low interest rates for longer — much longer
- Gloom settles over oil patch prospects as harsh reality of sub-$50 oil sinks in
- No help from Ottawa as Alberta’s economy devastated by oil collapse, by Claudia Cattaneo
- Alberta likely to sink into recession this year even if oil rebounds to $65: Conference Board
Globe and Mail
- Tories delay federal budget, blame ‘market instability’
- Ottawa to post deficit due to oil drop, tax cuts: TD forecasts
- Resilient oil industry will survive shock of low prices, Harper says
- Oil prices could go lower still, Bank of Canada says
- In oil boomtown Fort McMurray, ‘it’s like the place has gone dead’
- Ontario to move forward with carbon-pricing plan this spring
Macleans
- Federal budget to be delayed until April in light of low oil prices
- Why the oil crash caught so many by surprise (but shouldn’t have), by Jason Kirby
- Is it time to panic in the oil sands? by Andrew Leach
- Editorial: Oil prices are falling—but it’s hardly doomsday
- Why the oil crash is bad for Canadian house prices, by Jason Kirby