Dinner Party Economics

In the novel Dinner Party Economics written by Evie Adomait and Richard
Maranta, the complex topics of macroeconomic policy and its relation to current world economic debates are explored. This paper will discuss my opinion of unemployment, oil prices and international trade opportunities as well as the current conditions of the Canadian economy.
In December 2016, Canada added more than 50,000 jobs, making 2016 the best year for job creation since 20121. Meanwhile, The Globe and Mail just released that Canada is continuing to increase jobs, hiring 15,300 full time jobs this month2.
The trickling effect of thousands of Canadians looking and securing jobs leveled the unemployment rate in February to 6.8%3. Not only is this level of employment
To me, a stable level of employment shows that the Canadian economy is doing well. Stable levels of employment mean that the government is not irrationally spending money in unemployment insurance. This ‘left over money’ that the government would have spent if Canada was seeing high levels of unemployment can be spent elsewhere, which increases
Canada’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). However, sometimes something’s are just too good to be true. If the government gets the understanding that low levels of unemployment provide them with more money to use else where in the economy, it can push the economy into inflation (DPD 80). Throughout much of 2015 and 2016 Canada’s economy was in a rut. A major indicator of how the Canadian economy is preforming is linked to the price of a barrel of oil. In early 2014 the price of a barrel was well over $100 USD, while in
2016 oil prices plummeted to $20 a barrel4. While cost’s of production in oil rigs remained the same, forty- five thousands Canadians lost their jobs as Canadian companies tried to remain afloat with record breaking low oil prices5. In
OPEC countries export crude oil around the world with prices Canadian companies cannot compete with.
This prevents Canadian companies from selling Canadian oil, hurting the profits of these companies. By OPEC dominating the oil markets they push the world into stagflation (DPD, 162). Through stagflation, policy makers must be very careful when implementing polices, to not throw the economy into lower levels of unemployment. Since the major fall of oil prices in 2015, crude oil prices have been on a slow and steady raise through 2017. OPEC has announced that they are ‘turning off the spigots’6, meaning they will cut 1.2 million barrels from production. This is OPEC’s first agreement in eight years to cut their production of oil, which will allow for countries outside of OPEC such as Canada and the United States to grow again in the oil markets. Since OPEC nations compete with Canada for market share in the oil markets, this small cut will provide major opportunity for Canada this year.
Another huge influence on Canadian growth is international trade.
Economist’s argue that 40% of Canada’s GDP riles on trade (DPD 128).