Thread: It's a puzzle

It is interesting to me to see the difference in perspective between Canada and the US. We are a similar people that share languages and come from common ancestry and yet we have very different points of view. As far as employers trusting their employees to be productive I would argue that point. My wife works for the federal government which is synonymous for cumbersome waste and overspending. Since her segment has been working from home productivity has dropped dramatically. The fact of the matter is that some grown ups just need a babysitter and I don't expect that to ever change as long as societies fail to punish laziness.

There are several areas in B.C. where entry level jobs will not earn you enough to live. A couple of years ago this was a big deal for Kelowna, as businesses were closing or reducing hours because of staff shortages. The staff shortage was caused by very high rental prices, which was caused by many factors, one of which was the high profit of short term rentals. Recent events have killed the short term rental market. Cities in BC are experiencing falling rental rates. The housing market is very multi faceted, with crazy influences that are far reaching.

One suburb near here wanted high end housing and light industrial. You couldn't afford to live in the town and work there.

They had to figure out how to get people to reverse commute from the inner city to work there.

That's been the case in Sta Barbara, Ca for years. Every city employee from the mayor on down lives outside the city.

Here in the states home ownership is becoming a fleeting concept for more and more. Homes are being bought up by investment groups and rented out. We are really a submerging economy and making ends meet is a task in itself for many.

Damn! You guys are bumming me out. Too much doom and gloom here. I just can't do the bummerman thing. I believe in capitalism, I believe in people and mainly I believe in the innate desire to survive no matter how many backs we have to break to do it. All things are cyclical. If one thing goes down then something else comes up. If home ownership goes down then get into rental if rental property goes down then get into sales. Be willing to reinvent yourselves. I think somebody has been isolating for too long. Now I know why my mother used to tell us to get out from in front of the TV and go outside and play something

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Here in the states home ownership is becoming a fleeting concept for more and more. Homes are being bought up by investment groups and rented out. We are really a submerging economy and making ends meet is a task in itself for many.

Don't worry, your's is not the only country in the world that this is happening to. I know that is no consolation but there it is.

Bob

Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

Damn! You guys are bumming me out. Too much doom and gloom here. I just can't do the bummerman thing. I believe in capitalism, I believe in people and mainly I believe in the innate desire to survive no matter how many backs we have to break to do it. All things are cyclical. If one thing goes down then something else comes up. If home ownership goes down then get into rental if rental property goes down then get into sales. Be willing to reinvent yourselves. I think somebody has been isolating for too long. Now I know why my mother used to tell us to get out from in front of the TV and go outside and play something

The type of Capitalism you likely believe in, as I do, has left the building a while back. There was a time when the stock markets was doing well it meant that good paying full time jobs were being created by companies reinvesting profits at home. Now, stock markets doing well does not equate automatically into new good paying jobs at home. The disconnect is why the middle class is in decline and for the first time in generations the next generation may have a lower standard of living than those that preceded it.

Bob

Folks wanted a world economy and that means those countries on the low end move up and those on the high move down.

The U.S is becoming more like Mexico. A few fabulously wealthy folks who own everything and control everything and a small upper middle class mostly high paid professionals and upper mid level business people and owners of medium sized businesses. Everyone else is part of the lower classes. if you be there it's just a matter of how low can you go.

We're not there yet but we are well on the road to it.

" Therefore do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

My wife works for the federal government which is synonymous for cumbersome waste and overspending. Since her segment has been working from home productivity has dropped dramatically. The fact of the matter is that some grown ups just need a babysitter and I don't expect that to ever change as long as societies fail to punish laziness.

I guess it depends on the agency and the people in it.

My wife's agency, for example, has actually had the same or better output since they were all sent home to do telework in March.

And when I used to work for Citigroup back in the early 2000s, I worked from home three days a week. I found I worked longer hours, and got more done on the days I was sitting on my couch vs being in the office! Though my particular team supported the Saudi Royal Family's personal banking servers at the time, so if someone didnt pull their weight, they were quickly let go... You dont want to piss off the bank owners by not letting them have access to their banking systems!