When Wall Street 'Flu' Hits BC

Many long years ago there was a wonderful satirical cartoon called Pogo. Reflected in the animal citizens of Okefenokee Swamp were the frailties of politics and politicians. In one strip, Albert Alligator, sort of the Joe Six Pack of the community, arranged a picnic for the citizens of Okefenokee Swamp, and when it was over claimed credit for the beautiful weather.

"You can't claim credit for the weather, Albert," remonstrated Pogo, the laid-back wise man of the swamp.

"Why not?" replied Albert, "It happened during my administration, didn't it?"

Politicians in power, as a general if not infallible rule, will always take credit for whatever good happens and blame sunspots, the devil and especially the opposition when bad things happen. A thousand years or so ago, I went to hear a federal Liberal cabinet minister, Lionel Chevrier, speak. It was probably the election of 1962, when people had become fed up with John Diefenbaker and Liberal leader Lester Pearson was trying to win a majority government, which he never was able to do.

At any rate, Chevrier, a stereotypical parish pump politician thundered out: "They say Liberal times are good times and Tory times are bad times. My friends, the Tories say this is just a coincidence. I ask you, good people of Vancouver, which coincidence are you going to vote for?" Irresponsible, but a great line.

The last global economic crisis

In 1997, all economic hell broke out in Asia. Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, puts it thusly:

"It started in Thailand with the financial collapse of the Thai baht caused by the decision of the Thai government to float the baht, cutting its peg to the USD, after exhaustive efforts to support it in the face of a severe financial overextension that was in part real-estate driven. At the time, Thailand had acquired a burden of foreign debt that made the country effectively bankrupt even before the collapse of its currency. As the crisis spread, most of Southeast Asia and Japan saw slumping currencies, devalued stock markets and other asset prices, and a precipitous rise in private debt. After the Asian crisis, international investors were reluctant to lend to developing countries, leading to economic slowdowns in developing countries in many parts of the world. The powerful negative shock also sharply reduced the price of oil, which reached a low of $8 per barrel towards the end of 1998, causing a financial pinch in OPEC nations and other oil exporters. This reduction in oil revenue contributed to the Russian financial crisis in 1998, which in turn caused Long-Term Capital Management in the United States to collapse after losing $4.6 billion in four months. A wider collapse in the financial markets was avoided when Alan Greenspan and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York organized a $3.625 billion bail-out. Major emerging economies Brazil and Argentina also fell into crisis in the late 1990s (see Argentine debt crisis)."

All this came when the New Democratic Party was in power here in B.C., and while all exports were hit, the lumber and pulp and paper industries, staples of our overseas exports, were hit the hardest.

While this was a cloudy time for the NDP, the Liberals were quick to deny them the defence that Asian imports were the problem.

Campbell made NDP wear it

The Liberal corollary to Albert Alligator's taking credit for good things was that if bad things happen during your administration, no matter what the cause, it's your fault.

Here's then-Opposition leader Campbell's reaction to the NDP claiming that B.C.'s economic problems were the result of the Asian economic "flu" and our inability to sell our products there:

On March 27, 1998, Campbell said, "The government is very fond of saying that this is the result of what they call the Asian flu. We are not suffering from the Asian flu; we are suffering from NDP pneumonia. It's been brought on by high taxes, high debt and high cost of government, and it's resulted in low-level economic vitality."

In April of 1998, in the Kamloops Daily News, Campbell was quoted thusly: "Listen to [Premier Glen Clark] talk and he's blaming the downturn in the economy on Asia. It has nothing to do with Asia and he knows it."

We must assume from these and many other pronouncements by Campbell and Co. that the corollary to Albert Alligator's dictum is: "If something bad occurs during your administration, it's your fault -- no ifs, ands or buts about it."

Next May 12, Campbell will seek another mandate just as the Wall Street "flu" hits here. Unlike in the case of the Asian flu, Campbell has been unable, if he ever thought about it, to see this coming. Under the Albert Alligator maxim, corollary thereto, mustn't voters thus conclude that this bad thing, having occurred during Campbell's administration, is his fault?

What's sauce for the goose (or alligator for that matter) is surely sauce for the gander.

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• Ready for a Slump?
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• US Meltdown Puts Heat on Canada
  Decades of fusing the two economies exposes us to grave risk.