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If you are someone who follows the various media coverage, you could be forgiven for wondering when the Prime Minister of this country was handed God-like powers over the national economy.



The most uninformed question of the year has to be: “Who is best suited to run Canada’s economy?” Apart from being raised so often, it is simplistic and falsely premised.

Yes, there is a lot going on with the Canadian economy these days. World markets at large are in flux. Our largest trading partner is closing in on an election of its own, and our second largest, China, is reeling from a collapse of its stock market. Which is to say nothing about world oil markets and problems in Europe. Indeed all of this affects our economy here at home. Where the narrative gets grating is the suggestion that the winner of the fall election holds all — or, for that matter, any — of the cards in this equation.

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the caricature that is portrayed of Stephen Harper, or anyone else sitting in his office delicately pushing the right buttons to make our economy hum is ridiculous

The amount of control any government, let alone any prime minister, has over these matters tends to be wildly exaggerated. Governments simply cannot do much about it. Sure, they control the money supply and can inject stimulus, but in the grand scheme of things these measures are minor. Global economic and political events, the price of oil, private sector investment, and a multitude of other things outside government control are the true drivers. Furthermore, within the actions that a government can take, the prime minister plays a small part. The finance minister, the finance department, the PBO, the Bank of Canada, the Standing Committee on Finance, etc. all do work on these issues, many independently of the PMO.