THERE are many ways for a government to spin the news that the economy it manages may have entered a recession. Stephen Harper, Canada’s Conservative prime minister tried breeziness. “I’ve seen a lot worse,” he said at the Calgary Stampede, a rodeo that attracts about 1m visitors (pictured). Joe Oliver, the finance minister, went for stubborn optimism. “We are going to see solid economic growth this year,” he insisted.
The numbers argue against him. The economy contracted at an annual rate of 0.6% in the first quarter of this year. The second was no better, says Emanuella Enenajor, an economist at Bank of America. If so, the economy was technically in recession. This is awkward for Mr Harper, who hopes to win another term in office in a national election to be held on October 19th.
He had planned to achieve that by boasting about the Conservatives’ economic record. Until recently he had grounds to do so. Canada indulged less than others in the credit spree that led to the 2008 financial crisis in Europe and the United States. As the crisis ebbed it grew faster than most other big economies, thanks to a boom in commodities,...
from The Economist: The Americas http://ift.tt/1NVZ4V1
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