'Dutch Disease' defined

Thomas Mulcair referred to an economic phenomena labelled 'Dutch Disease' in an Evan Solomon interview. The interview included an explanation of the term, but further research may be necessary. Here's the Wikipedia definition:

In economics, the Dutch disease is a concept that explains the apparent relationship between the increase in exploitation of natural resources and a decline in the manufacturing sector. The mechanism is that an increase in revenues from natural resources (or inflows of foreign aid) will make a given nation's currency stronger compared to that of other nations (manifest in an exchange rate), resulting in the nation's other exports becoming more expensive for other countries to buy, making the manufacturing sector less competitive. While it most often refers to natural resource discovery, it can also refer to "any development that results in a large inflow of foreign currency, including a sharp surge in natural resource prices, foreign assistance, and foreign direct investment".[1]

The term was coined in 1977 by The Economist to describe the decline of the manufacturing sector in the Netherlands after the discovery of a large natural gas field in 1959.[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_disease

 And for a cartoon skewering Christy Clark's reaction to Mulcair's interview, see http://thecanadian.org/item/1502-cartoon-who-you-callin-goofy?-clark-vs-mulcair-on-expanding-the-tar-sands

For a thorough listen to all the related interviews by Evan Solomon, see http://www.cbc.ca/thehouse/2012/05/19/house-additions---alberta-environment-minister/

UPDATE: Poll results are in, post-'dutch Disease' remarks http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/05/28/ndp-leading-tories-poll-forum_n_1550775.html?ref=canada The sky is not falling, apparently.

Ted.com Nick Hanauer believes the middle class are the job creators

This is what Alice Brown has been saying for years, but somehow hearing a TED.com participant saying makes it more important. If you are tired of throwing taxpayer's money at corporations in gratitude for us having to work long hours for less take home, then this is worth five minutes of your life.



ps. Ted.com was worried that this is 'too political'.