October 28, 2011 – Weekly Market Report

Just like we’ve been saying, things in Canada are very good compared to
the rest of the world, at least according to the ordinary Canadians in the
survey results below.   The sense of comfort we have with our current
economic conditions contributes to a healthy housing market.

Folks who believe the economy is good or very good invest in homes,
invest in their businesses, hire people, do research and development to improve
their businesses, and all those things are what contribute to a healthy
economy.

Canadians Think Economy is OK – Todd Hirsch, Senior Economist,
ATB Financial

A quick scan of recent international business news headlines suggests much more worry than optimism, and that worry is reflected in a global survey of attitudes.
Canadians, however, stand out with relatively upbeat attitudes.

IPSOS’s “Global
Economic Pulse” is a survey of participants in 24 countries around the world,
assessing the current economic situation in each country. The survey was
conducted between September 9th-19th.

In Canada, 66% of survey participants judged the Canadian economy to be
in GOOD or VERY GOOD shape at the moment. That puts us in #4 spot globally,
behind Saudi Arabia, Sweden and India. Canada outperforms such economic
hot-spots as China, Germany and Australia. On average, only 39% give their
country such a positive assessment.

Canadian attitudes
stand in sharp contrast to those of our American neighbours, where only 15%
believe the economy to be in good or very good shape. (See graph for top 10 and
bottom 5 countries).

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