jim flaherty posts

Huffington Post Canada:

OTTAWA - The Canadian Taxpayers Federation says the country is about to pass a red ink milestone.

The federation says the national debt will reach $600 billion just seconds before 11:19 p.m. ET tomorrow.

And federation director Gregory Thomas says it'll keep climbing, so long as the Harper government keeps spending beyond its means.

Read the whole story at Huffington Post Canada

Mortgages have never been straightforward, easy-to-understand financial tools. But now, the government has tightened up some of the rules that govern them, and it's good to know what changes are in store for those who want to buy their first home.

Perhaps you haven't heard, but the government is tightening up the mortgage requirements. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced last week that mortgage rules are changing. The federal government is reducing the maximum amortization period from 30 years to 25 years unless you're able to put down 20 per cent.

The Bank of Canada's Mark Carney supported the government's actions and issued another warning that Canadians are living on borrowed money and need to rein in their debt from a staggering $1.52 for every dollar earned.

We're living in a debt-ridden society and part of that reason is that we don't really understand how debt works. This includes credit cards. A recent poll from TD Canada Trust found that younger Ontarians (Ontario being a have-not province) aren't quite that savvy with their cards and digging themselves into debt.

The Canadian dollar is once again in free-fall today, but if you read one of our most popular posts here at Walletpop -- Extreme Couponing isn't as Extreme in Canada -- one of the biggest recurring questions asked was, "Why do Canadians pay more for everything even when our dollar is worth more stateside, or at least at parity?"

Well, when our readers ask questions, we listen. We sent our sleuths to find an answer and I believe we've come up with something definitive.

RELATED LINKS:

• Is the Canadian Dollar Caught in a "Death Grip"?
• Loonie will Stay at Par with U.S. Dollar: Flaherty
• Loonie at Par Means Shopping, Vacation and Investment Bargains

In an attempt to curtail rising household debt, the Federal government has announced a second major tightening of mortgage lending rules -- a change that could affect up to 20,000 new mortgages and cause house prices to fall in the short-term.

According to media reports, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Monday that three main changes would be made to the mortgage rules: mortgages with amortization periods greater than 30 years will no longer qualify for government-backed mortgage insurance, down from 35 years; the refinance limit on a mortgage will be reduced to 85 per cent of the home's value, down from 90 per cent; and Ottawa will no longer insure home equity lines of credit (HELOC).

It's the outcome no one wants, a second recession - the 'double dip,' also known as the 'W-shaped' - but economists are beginning to increasingly fear that the U.S. will drag us back into the red.

It's something the economic community has speculated about since the U.S. first entered recession at the end of 2008, sparking a financial crisis that took the rest of the world down with it. Some economists have believed from the start that once stimulus programs began to unwind that the U.S. economy would drop into a second recession. Those concerns have strengthened after the U.S. jobs report last week showed that employment actually fell for the first time this year.

So how likely is Canada to fall back into recession?