Topic: How To Invest

What is Pat’s commentary for the week of September 22, 2015

Article Excerpt

Here’s a phenomena you may have noticed: Current economic problems sometimes provide solutions for problems inherited from previous years or decades. For example, from the late 1990s through the mid-2000s, many employers and economists worried about a coming labour shortage. The baby boomers, who make up a large part of the North American workforce, are nearing retirement age. Specialists were leaving the workforce faster than they can be replaced. Younger people tend to switch jobs more often than older workers. They are also slow to accept entry- or low-level jobs. They are reluctant to go into apprenticeship or industrial-training programs. Employers and economists worried about the risk of falling productivity and rising wages. After all, employers were likely to bid up wage levels, to attract scarce new workers who would need expensive training. This could provoke severe inflation. Then the 2007-2009 recession and stock-market slide came along. It solved…