How does the financial debacle affect you and why should governments be trying to fix it? Here are some concrete examples of how this is affecting the everyday person.
OTTAWA–The spill-over from the financial crisis that started in the United States could soon make it tougher for Canadians to get mortgages and car loans and corporations to borrow cash, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty warned today.
Flaherty told a morning news conference the credit crunch has gotten worse in the last few days and will have "real consequences" for Canadian consumers and companies.
"This is a very serious situation in terms of credit," Flaherty said. "The credit crunch has gotten tighter . . . it has grown into most economies in the world now."
Flaherty was speaking in advance of weekend meetings of the finance ministers of the G7 nations in Washington to strengthen "our coordinated response to the turbulence."
He called them the most "serious" meetings he's had with his global counterparts.
As well, there are plans underway to have the leaders of the G7 nations, including Canada's Prime Minister, meet to discuss the crisis.
Flaherty said today he had "absolutely no concern" about the financial health of Canada's financial institutions.
"My concern is not about solvency. Our financial institutions are all well capitalized. That is a fundamental difference between Canada and the United States," Flaherty said.
"What we have a challenge about is the availability of credit. That matters for Canadians because what it will affect is the availability of mortgage funds, the availability of small business loans, the availability of loans for larger businesses," he said...
...During his 30-minute news conference, Flaherty went out of his way to repeatedly express empathy with Canadians who have seen their stock portfolios plummet and now have concerns about their jobs and financial future.
"These are times of unprecedented economic volatility. Canadians are concerned. They are seeing dramatic losses in their savings and their retirement investments. They are also worried about their job security, worried about their homes," he said.
"We share the apprehension, the concerns of Canadians. These are extraordinary times in global financial markets," he said.