The economic storm affects us all -- now

We have to wait until January for the new US president to take office, a long time, particularly with what has become a global economic meltdown.

Those are wild words, worthy of some great disaster that most of us usually hear of but don’t really feel the immediate effects – a tsunami, massive floods in China, violence-plagued human waves in Congo and Darfur.

But this recession -- or whatever economists, politicians, and CEO will dare to call it -- affects us here and now.

Those of us with investments, including mutual funds in retirement and education programs, feel it right now.

If you’re not specifically looking at your investment reports, it’s a little easier to put it all in the back of your mind. After all, the recession – or whatever – had brought us lower gasoline prices the likes of which we haven’t seen in years. Quite a windfall, we have to agree.

It should mean lower transportation costs for everything from food to everything else we acquire elsewhere.

And with lower petroleum prices, home heating fuel price reductions must be right around the corner, just like Christmas.

But when we think of the reason behind the lower fuel costs we have to be concerned about Alberta’s vulnerability because of the relative expense of recovering its particular petroleum resources.

Oddly enough, whereas some environmental concern has been muted in the face of this immediate economic danger, there is a silver lining -- somewhere.

One thing, with the North American indigenous auto industry on the ropes and gasping for Canadian and American government assistance, political pressure for more environmentally friendly vehicles will become more focused and clearer. In fact, that’s what Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been on about for some months now.

Assistance from either government could well be tied to development of more fuel-efficient and environmentally-friendly machines.

In the more mundane world of financial regulations, we have to admit Harper shone at the G20 summit in Washington last week.

Partly because US President George Bush is on his way out – somewhat persuaded, but still clinging to some of the disastrous ideas that helped get us into this mess -- Harper appeared to be the cock of the walk. His idea of more efficient and effective oversight mechanism with existing international bodies seems to be the attractive middle ground into which others will eventually track.

All agreed with public spending in order to drive the collective economy. So we, and billions of others, can expect to see more infrastructure work.

The fact that our banking system, based decades ago on the old Scottish national model, also has set us up to better withstand the economic storm than many of our trading partners, is some comfort.

But only some. Being a trading nation reliant on exports, we’re buffeted by everyone else’s problems.

Hopefully, things will start to pick up before the G20 thinkers and doers set to work in the new year, and President Barack Obama can get a fresher start than what he faces now.

It’s what we all need, on whichever side of the border or the coast line we live.