One of Ohio's claims to fame is the fact that it regularly makes or breaks U.S. presidential campaigns. Now it's also part of the shale gas frontier. Even President Obama in his recent State of the Union speech talked about Ohio. Americans and Canadians should take note -- beyond the surface in Ohio lies an incubator and perhaps even a model for what a future energy self-sufficient North American economy might look like. Add to that the most recent data from the IMF and Nanos tracking on economic sentiment in the U.S. and Canada and an interesting potential narrative emerges.
The Great Recession has battered and beaten the markets, consumer confidence and economies around the world. Labour competitiveness gave an advantage to other countries such as China and India. Although not all experts agree on the scope of the U.S. shale gas, the estimates from the Energy Information Administration in the U.S. suggest that, along with Canadian oil and natural gas, it could be one of the pillars of possible energy self-sufficient North America. Cheap for now, natural gas, if it can be priced at a level that will at least encourage production, can be a strategic advantage for North American manufacturing -- overturning the competitiveness applecart that has been besieged by low-cost offshore labour.
What's interesting about Ohio, is that its state government job creation policy, led by Governor John Kasich, leverages energy to attracted advanced manufacturing. Looking at Ohio's world class research facilities in its university system and the Battelle Memorial Institute, a non-profit research center, you get a glimmer of a potential new North American economic value proposition founded on low-cost energy and a renewed manufacturing base with a knowledge-based economy.
Canadians in particular should take note. As traditional exporters of a number of unfinished resources, without leveraging the benefits of energy, they risk being a spoke as opposed to a hub in the emerging new North American economy. This could be particularly poignant for Canadians who have been enjoying the benefits of the country's energy wealth and the boom spawned by the Alberta oil sands while avoiding much of the torment its main trading partners have endured through the recession. The Canadian Harper government's focus on sound fiscal stewardship has been a key political advantage over Canada's opposition parties. In essence, the message has been more along the lines of "Canada is doing better than others" rather than "Canada is doing well."
Looking at the latest economic sentiment in the U.S. and Canada, and the IMF growth projections, should be sobering for Canadians and provide hope for Americans. The latest Nanos tracking on the economic sentiment in the U.S. suggests that a higher percentage of Americans believe their economy will get stronger in the next six months than do Canadians. Recent IMF estimates on growth suggest that the U.S. economy will grow at a faster pace in 2013 and 2014 than Canada. In his most recent briefing, Mark Carney, the outgoing Governor of the Bank of Canada and incoming Governor of the Bank of England, had to lower growth projections for the Canadian economy.
Could we be witnessing a reversal of fortunes -- where the U.S. economy outpaces the Canadian economy in terms of growth? Might the new narrative in the U.S. be the replication of what could be the Ohio intersection of low cost energy, advanced manufacturing and a knowledge based economy with a highly skilled workforce?
Just last month, Columbus, Ohio, (you heard me right), was named one of the top seven intelligent communities in the world by The Intelligent Community Forum (Toronto Canada was also on the list). Americans and Canadians should think of the changes in the energy landscape beyond just the notion of a new supply of low cost energy and in addition in terms of a fundamental new North American economic value proposition.
Watch Ohio as well as those country economic growth numbers. Ohio may be more than a political king (or President)-maker for the Democrats or the Republicans come the next presidential election. It should cause Canada to worry about moving from leader to laggard economically. A new North American energy strategy that converts energy into a truly strategic economic advantage could be a game changer for both Canada and the United States.
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America has a lack of jobs that require little or no education and this is exactly the same for Canada. Although there is a lack of employment that requires high school education (diploma) or lower - this is NOT the case for the vast majority of unfilled, vacant positions in America and Canada, today. These jobs are: Engineering, nursing (health care), skilled trades (carpenter, plumber, brick layer, electrician), technicians (are skilled, or semi-skilled support workers who support professionals such as engineers, health care, lawyers), machinists (CNC), I.T (specific requirements to fill a job). I do not see what the author of this article is trying to say?? In addition, there will never be "100% self-sufficiency" for any country, including America where said country does not need to rely on international relations (trade) with other sovereign nations for 100% self-sufficiency of buying, selling, producing and consuming of domestic product (unsustainable).
I can't speak for resource indutries other than oil & gas, but actually there has maybe only been a couple (i can think of two) companies that have been sold to foreign state-owned companies. That's why the recent Nexen deal got so much attention, cause it had never been done before.
And you ask who is benefiting? Well, pretty every canadian with mutual funds in their RRSP is benefitting. Hundreds of thousands of people with jobs are benefitting. Governments budgets are benefitting, and the list goes on.
But really all of this is moot because your comment really has nothing to do with the above article. You just looking for a place to spout off your rants...
Bloomberg did a shareholder study that showed that 71 % of ALL shareholders in the oilsands were foreign. Google it and see for your self...The point I was trying to make with regards to the article is that what Ohio is proposing to do is exactly the opposite of what the Canadians politicians have done. If the Albertas government budgets are really benefiting how come were are looking at deficits in the Billions?? The fact is that all the development puts a huge strain on all our infrastructures and with Canadas low royalty rates, and low corporate taxes, the costs are outweighing the benefits. We are exporting our non renewable resources, at an ever increasing speed, rather that developing them at a more sustainable rate and using them to benefit Canadians first.