For example, motor vehicle sales have fallen by about 10 per cent in those three provinces over this period, while they’ve climbed by more than 10 per cent elsewhere. The fact is that a decline in commodity prices such as the one we have seen is one of the most complex shocks that a policy-maker can face.
We know that the overall effect on Canada is unambiguously negative because of the loss of income from exporting commodities I mentioned earlier. Nevertheless, at the global level, the positive effects on importing countries will more than offset the negative effects on exporting countries, yielding a net positive impact on global growth.