Pipelines, energy and natural resources

[Brad Sallows]

an attempt at sarcasm that failed but seriously, do you really think that this government could undertake any major development project without the aforementioned cost overruns and delays and without building trying to make it environmentally friendly at the same time as in the electric construction equipment? If you thought that was far-fetched just think of California's mandating all electric transport trucks>

We can't be sure of the details, but that government will self-impose costly mandates is a safe bet. One of the simplest is the popular "union-equivalent wage".

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Income and sales taxes are siphoned off of everyone, and are not siphoned off of provinces. The complaint, maybe, is that AB taxpayers don't get a more equal share of transfers back.

Stack it any way you like, but Alberta loses a lot more money to Ottawa than any other province........or people living in said province. Of course Ottawa's ham-fisted and partisan distribution of those funds proves the need for a total revamp of the Transfer Payment system.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Stack it any way you like, but Alberta loses a lot more money to Ottawa than any other province........or people living in said province. Of course Ottawa's ham-fisted and partisan distribution of those funds proves the need for a total revamp of the Transfer Payment system.

They don't have a sales tax either, which is also a novel idea

 

[Czech_pivo]

Meaningless without an accurate accounting of the value of whatever the money was spent on. Again: opportunity cost. Without determining it, everything else is just wishful hand-waving in which an interlocutor makes up something about the one side of the story he wants to tell.

You’re a master of the art of deflection.

 

[AmmoTech90]

And, having moved from Ontario to Alberta, Alberta is more expensive. The lack of taxes don't save you. It just lets people feel good. It's part of the bread and circuses that are needed to keep the part of the population that is from here, and will not move, happy in a boom and bust economy that is becoming more bust.

One advantage is if you got on the housing ladder early you can stay on it, or even climb, if you're willing to not live around a big city.

 

[Brad Sallows]

You’re a master of the art of deflection.

Deflection? The crux of every issue is cost:benefit. "This is a good idea, let's do it" is a ridiculous foundation for any kind of commitment of resources. The question "in lieu of what else" always has to be answered.

 

[Good2Golf]

Meaningless without an accurate accounting of the value of whatever the money was spent on. Again: opportunity cost. Without determining it, everything else is just wishful hand-waving in which an interlocutor makes up something about the one side of the story he wants to tell.

Sure. Quibble about numbers. Can’t argue the methodology differences.

I won’t bother asking you to give your thoughts on why the Heritage Fund was/is more effective and beneficial for Albertans than the Sovereign Wealth Fund is for Norwegians. INo doubt Albertans are better off in your world than the Norgies.

NSWF profits for 25H1…$68B US. How did AHF do in H1?

Norway wealth fund posts half year $68 billion profit - Michael Power Accountants

Norway’s $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, posted a 698 billion Norwegian crowns ($68.28 billion) profit for the first half of the year, lifted by strong returns among...

michaelpoweraccountants.ie

 

[Brad Sallows]

Sure. Quibble about numbers. Can’t argue the methodology differences.

I won’t bother asking you to give your thoughts on why the Heritage Fund was/is more effective and beneficial for Albertans than the Sovereign Wealth Fund is for Norwegians. INo doubt Albertans are better off in your world than the Norgies.

That isn't the issue I'm writing about. The issue is whether spending money right now has more net utility than building up a nest egg. An imaginary AB SWF can be whatever the imaginer wants it to be; fiscal (and political) pressures and market limitations are reality.

A government accumulated deficit (debt) is, crudely, a SWF in reverse. I probably already wrote that in principle a government might be able to invest at greater RoI than its debt servicing costs, but just paying down debt and reducing those costs frees up money for other things, while reducing exposure to adverse economic blips in a way that trying to work a spread does not. The federal and all provincial governments in Canada have that choice. Beating on AB is a pointless exercise that smacks of envy.

 

[Czech_pivo]

That isn't the issue I'm writing about. The issue is whether spending money right now has more net utility than building up a nest egg. An imaginary AB SWF can be whatever the imaginer wants it to be; fiscal (and political) pressures and market limitations are reality.

A government accumulated deficit (debt) is, crudely, a SWF in reverse. I probably already wrote that in principle a government might be able to invest at greater RoI than its debt servicing costs, but just paying down debt and reducing those costs frees up money for other things, while reducing exposure to adverse economic blips in a way that trying to work a spread does not. The federal and all provincial governments in Canada have that choice. Beating on AB is a pointless exercise that smacks of envy.

The 10yr rate of return on the TSX60 is greater than the 10yr Canada bond interest rate - over the long run investing for the future when the investment is returning more than the interest on debt is always the smart move.
Any competent financial advisor will tell you to choose to invest rather than pay off debt if the opportunity to earn more is greater than the cost of maintaining the debt.

My current mortgage term, which expires in 10 days, was a 4yr fixed at 1.74% - I would have been an utter fool to use any extra money to pay down my mortgage quicker over the last 4yrs when I could have taken the quick and idiot proof method and dumped extra money into fixed 1, 2, 3yr GIC’s and earned double that interest at a min. Or, bought a market ETF for the TSX or S&P or NYSE and earned 20+% over a 2, 3 or4yr period.

 

[Kirkhill]

The crux of the matter.

"No taxation without representation"

Do you trust the people who take your taxes to spend them in your interest?

Is it in Albertans' interest to keep Canadians happy?

 

[brihard]

The 10yr rate of return on the TSX60 is greater than the 10yr Canada bond interest rate - over the long run investing for the future when the investment is returning more than the interest on debt is always the smart move.
Any competent financial advisor will tell you to choose to invest rather than pay off debt if the opportunity to earn more is greater than the cost of maintaining the debt.

My current mortgage term, which expires in 10 days, was a 4yr fixed at 1.74% - I would have been an utter fool to use any extra money to pay down my mortgage quicker over the last 4yrs when I could have taken the quick and idiot proof method and dumped extra money into fixed 1, 2, 3yr GIC’s and earned double that interest at a min. Or, bought a market ETF for the TSX or S&P or NYSE and earned 20+% over a 2, 3 or4yr period.

Yup. Mortgages are 'cheap money' if you aren't an idiot with your capital. While I do have a notion of some modest earlier paydown to try to sync up my 'house is paid off' with the day I'm eligible for my pension, that will probably yield (heh) to the math. Better to keep the payments lower and just keep filling the TFSA/RRSPs.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Yup. Mortgages are 'cheap money' if you aren't an idiot with your capital. While I do have a notion of some modest earlier paydown to try to sync up my 'house is paid off' with the day I'm eligible for my pension, that will probably yield (heh) to the math. Better to keep the payments lower and just keep filling the TFSA/RRSPs.

I went into retirement owing nothing. All capital expenses were zeroed out. Home, vehicles, etc. I don’t know what it would be like still owning and using retirement funds. But, I will say, going in free and clear, relieves a lot of angst and pressure.

 

[brihard]

I went into retirement owing nothing. All capital expenses were zeroed out. Home, vehicles, etc. I don’t know what it would be like still owning and using retirement funds. But, I will say, going in free and clear, relieves a lot of angst and pressure.

Absolutely, that peace of mind can have its own value.

For me this only applies if I take my pension pretty much as soon as I can. I’d be in my early 50s, my wife would still have most of a decade to work, so very likely I’d be ‘retiring’ from my current employer, taking the pension, but continuing to work for someone else and double dipping.

It’s still a long ways out, so no decision made yet.