Sinking of the MV Kanadeh

This novella is a political satire of the West's current debt crisis. Intended to be entertaining as well as informative, it uses a cruise ship sinking in an ocean of debt as a metaphor for the way Canada and all developed countries are attempting to deal with the problem--essentially through spending cuts and the delusion they can grow themselves out of it with cheap credit. Neither approach will work.

Low interest rates will not grow the economy out of debt (just ask the Japanese). Consumers have their backs against the debt wall (not governments--they can create their own money). Household debt is at record levels, wages are in an ongoing slump, and consumers are continually being stoned with a barrage of rate hikes, user fees and sales/hidden taxes. Not a recipe for growing the economy.

The problem is not overspending by a pampered middle class. It is over-indebtedness caused by reckless financial markets (banking sector, major investors) that create bubble and bust economies that invariably end in recessions. The resultant debt mess (going from eleven straight budget surpluses to a succession of deficits) is left for the taxpayers--who are bamboozled by the corporate media and politicians into thinking they created it through excessive social spending--to clean up with another round of budget cuts.

Unfortunately, the only measures that might keep the ship afloat--monetary, market and tax reforms--are not even on the horizon.