So I hope that in Canada, too, we will see a similar payoff from the adoption of new technology and a comparable improvement in productivity. As for commodity prices, there has already been some turnaround this year, but a firmer recovery requires a strengthening world economy – in particular, a turnaround in Japan and the rest of Asia.
The other point to note in this connection is that the relative importance of commodities in the Canadian economy has declined. The share of primary products in total Canadian exports has fallen from about 60 per cent in the 1970s and 1980s to about half as much presently.