Financial Crisis In Canada

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IV. An assessment of the impact of the recent economic/financial crisis on Canada’s trade The great recession that plagued the world in 2007 stemmed from outstanding issues in prior years: the housing slump in the United States, numerous defaults on subprime mortgages, and significant investments in asset backed securities. These issues became more prevalent and developed into a mass liquidity crisis in the United States. The ‘liquidity crisis’ adversely affected financial institutions ability to raise capital and consequently lead to the collapse of Lehman Brothers, one of the world’s largest investment banks, on September 15, 2008. Lehman’s bankruptcy caused various banks worldwide to falter as liquidity issues spread across international…show more content…
The significant drop in the S&P 500, one of the world’s broadest stock indexes, clearly reflects the weakened economic confidence and purchasing power after the financial contagion initiated by Lehman Brothers: Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy 10 Canada, America’s largest trading partner, was no exception to the global slump faced by economies worldwide as its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) shrunk by 4.64% from 2008 to 2009. The decline in Canada’s GDP primarily resulted from a major decrease in Canadian trade flows. From 2008 to 2009, Canadian exports and imports of goods fell by 24.43% and 15.71%, respectively, while Canadian service exports decreased by 5.57% and imports by 3.82%. Emphasising the trade of goods and services during the peak (2008-2009) of the crisis is crucial to assessing the impact of the financial downturn on Canadian economy.5 From 2008 to 2009, the largest import declines occurred in the energy sector, 36.1%. The significant factor affecting the energy sector was the price of crude oil. The table below illustrates the real price of oil peaking at $98.74 USD (constant at 2009…show more content…
Though oil prices recovered somewhat in the second quarter of 2009, energy exports continued to fall as decreased demand outweighed supply.16 Canada’s automotive and industrial goods industries also experienced substantial declines in exports. In 2009, automotive exports (predominantly to the U.S) slumped by 19% and earnings in the industrial goods and materials sector fell by $11.7 billion over the last three quarters. More than half of the losses in the latter sector resulted from decreased Chinese demand (one of the largest importers of earth materials) and deflated metal ore and alloy prices. Nickel ore experienced the largest and most rapid decline in value; prices fell by 75% (almost $1 billion). In addition, copper and aluminum fell by 50% whereas gold incurred a small loss in the second quarter. These lower prices lead export prices to fall 4.1%, significantly contributing to the 3.5% fall in nominal GDP. The figure shown below summarizes the export changes in the abovementioned sectors:17 16 Ibid. "Canadian Economic Observer: Section 3." 17 Ibid. "Canadian Economic Observer: Section

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