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e4 the HERALD OUTLOOK is published each Saturday by the ALTON HILLS HERALD Home Newspaper of Hills A Division of Canadian Newspapers Company Limited at Guelph Street Georgetown Ontario PUBLISHER David A Beattie EDITOR Brian MacLeod AD MANAGER Dan Taylor Second Class Mail Registered Number 8778822 STAFF WRITERS Ben Dummett Alan SPORTS EDITOR Colin Gibson ACCOUNTING Jennie lnga Shier ADVERTISING Joan Manna II ADVERTISING SALES Jeannine Valois Teeter Roberts PRODUCTION Dave Hastings Annie Wilson IK Economically things could be worse SNAFU by Bruce Beattie Diane Your Business What scares you more layoffs in the East Coast fishery in the auto industry in Central Canada and at Woodwards stores in Western Canada the looming economic war between the United States and Japan the fall of Campeau Corp the skidding Japanese stock market or the news that our galaxy Is plunging headlong into a celestial vortex at the rate of 397 miles a second Relax Things could be worse especially for those of us who arc still working It will take the galaxy billions of years to reach the centre of the vortex The auto industry is cyclical so it will recover time No one likes to hear about layoffs But the prospect of cial collapse sends chills up peo ples spines We like to be scared by the thought of something ex citing happening especially on the stock market That partly explains why the media tend to dramatize the news a bit Indeed poring over the financial pages these days can make your heart stop Renewed inflation European unrest give world stock markets the jitters one headline blares It makes you shudder The experts are not very reasstinng either If the economy is to grow anxious analysts ask where will the growth come from Nobody is spending not govern ment business or people IS IT THAT BAD Meanwhile the soft landing crew seems to have left town They were the analysts who said the economy would slow nicely with no possibility of a crash landing So it is reassuring to read that the Conference Board of Canada says growth will slow over the next two years but we will escape recession The economy will shrink for only one quarter rather than the two that are required for a technical recession There is going to be a slump says James Frank the boards chief economist But were not talking about a disaster like the one that occurred in and at all Back then the economy shrank for six quarters or 18 months But the Conference Boards in terest rate forecast is gloomy In terest rates measured by the prime business lending rate will fall no more than basis points or eighttenths of a percentage point over the next two years The prime serves as a ben chmark for consumer small business and mortgage loan rates Big businesses strike a better deal by going directly to financial markets for funds INFLATION EVIL Interest rates must stay high to fight off inflation the board con eludes If the Bank of Canada were to let rates fall it would down the Canadian dollar This would make imported goods more expensive tobuy fuelling inflation The board predicts the spectre of the goods and services tax in will cause a bunch up in spending late this year as people rush to beat the tax People will buy things like houses and other big ticket items the board predicts Berrys World by Inc SAY would you folks be Interested In serving on a Jury In Miami Copps wont cop out We didnt save any money keeping the thermostat at 68 degreesnot after buying sweaters for everyone How to be popular invade a small country Kevin Bell George Bush was popular when many were calling him a do- nothing president Now that hes done something such as invade a foreign country his popularity has gone through the roof If Republican National Chair man Lee is to be believed President Bushs performance is approved by a dizzying 83 per cent of the voters An independent poll puts his rating at per cent Figures that high were never mat by Ronald Reagan whose ap proval rating peaked at 73 per cent Who would have thought 18 mon ago when Bush was trailing Gov Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts by 15 percentage points in the race for the presiden cy that Bush would become one of the most popular presidents in the history of the union At least for the time being Today the economy of Massachusetts is in shambles Dukakis is in disgrace in his own state and Bush gleefully accepts praise from Republicans and Democrats alike for the successful invasion of Panama The public euphoria over the in vasion was perhaps captured best by the New York Post The now- famous jailbird photograph of deposed dictator Manuel Nonega took up all of the papers front page with huge letters boasting Canned Pineapple a reference to Noriegas unflattering nickname Pineappleface Some observers swept up in the motion of the successful invasion predicted that Bush had already clinched the 1992 election with the surrender of Noriega to American authorities The rating is certain to fall But even before the invasion when Bush was being called a wimp and too timid for sitting back and watching the earlier attemp ted coup in Panama crumble the president enjoyed approval ratings that topped his predecessors When Reagan was president his advisers tried hard to get him on the television news every evening by setting up appealing op portunities for television cameras to capture Reagan delivering a speech or in a symbolic pose But Bushs advisers arent obsessed with the presidents media image An analysis of television coverage of the White House shows that in his first year as president Bush appeared in national TV news stones only one- third as many times as Reagan did at the beginning of his first term The Bush White House has been so dull that TV reporters turned to the presidential mutt Millie for some color Millie appeared in more stories than three of Bushs cabinet members Whatever Bush is doing in vadtng Panama or giving tax breaks to the rich Americans seem to like him Americans sometimes use the word Canadian with indif ference or affection But the use of the word in the last week has been accompanied with a particular type of venom usually reserved for the Japanese who are steadily gobbling up American real estate The reason is the Campeau Corporations takeover of two American department store chains and their subsequent severe financial problems It was corporate rape by a Canadian who had no inkling of how to hawk merchandise huffed one commentator on national television It took the special genius of Robert chairman of the Corporation to figure out how to bankrupt more than 250 profitable department stores said The New York Times Thanks to protection under bankruptcy laws most of the department stores will be selling goods long after has retreated to Canada one reporter added Continued on Page It would be easy to write off Sheila Copps as an alsoran in the Liberal leadership race except that weve no idea what she will be up against Yes we know who the major candidates will be Jean Chretien and Paul Martin and that a few others are likely to enter the contest And we also know that the 37yearold Ms is starting out well behind the two front- runners in terms of money and organization But we dont know how either Mr Chretien or Mr Martin will perform over the next five months how they will be perceived and received by Liberal delegates and how other candidates may peel off votes Nor do we know the effects of Ms Copps being in all probabili ty the only female in the race She will certainly be the only female candidate What we do know however is that she should not be underrated as she was when she ran for the On tano Liberal leadership and sur prised most people by coming in second to David Peterson She has to use her own words matured a lot since those days and some of her attributes including fluency in French will be a much greater ad vantage in the federal contest As she announced her candidacy in Ottawa Ms seemed a much different person than the rookie MP who came here in to become a strident member of the infamous Liberal rat pack DIFFERENT SIDE I am not there to oppose any longer she said I am there to propose At the same time she argues that she hasnt basically changed its just another side of the real Sheila Copps thats being exposed as she sets out to cross Canada in search of support I represent small town and everyperson Canada and the other two candidates dont she said This was an obvious reference to Mr Chretien and Mr Martin because she also referred to Power Corp Mr Chretiens daughter is mar ried to the son of Power Corp President Paul and Mr Martin is a former vicepresident of the company Her remarks gave an inkling of the type of battle we can expect when the warfare moves down to the trenches There is no doubt about it the fiery articulate and passionate Hamilton MP could be a formidable foe For one thing she has very little explaining or apologizing to do unless we are going to get into such personal af fairs as failed marriages Her political performance over the past five years certainly shouldnt cause her any embar rassing moments Sure she may have overreacted when she jumped over chairs in an attempt to get at Sinclair Stevens during a committee hearing but those TV clips wont hurt her Continued on Page 25