.

Me ‘Namely.

“damental
problems confronting ’ the

-For those: ‘whose hobby is ¢ collecting b bad 1 news,
“last Monday was a red letter day — the: color being |.
entirely ‘appropriate. to’ the present. state: of

- Canada’s affairs, It-seemed as if the whole world +

 -had’suddenly banded together to tell us what Mr.
~ John. Crosbie, our new Tory finance minister, has
been font trying ¢ to, tell us for the past couple of

aes “that | “we're ‘almost ‘broke -- ‘the
operative word being we. And that you and I are

’ the onl People, capable of getting us out of the

«Blue. :

“As the olds saying goes, r rh
“not. even’so sure about you.
_ However,. “back ‘for -the
moment to. Black Monday.

First, there was the latest
International. Monetary
“Fund forecast. It announced
that ‘economic’ problems - ‘in
“industrialized ‘ -countries,

“ including. Canada, are going

to get worse before they get

“better: ‘and. there is little the |

governments. of those
countries can do about it.

Indeed; the ‘weekend’
' report from the IMF was one
of unrelieved gloom. “Little
visible . progress. has . been
made,” it said; “with...
several of the most fun-
economic

.world economy.” . Both
inflation. and unem-
‘ployment, it noted, remain
much too high and, -in
particular, - the outlook for
inflation appears bad for the
‘next year as oil price in-
creases work their way
through the system.

The only ‘practical steps

‘countries.’ "ole reduce | their |
“dependence on: OPEC: oi

and” -for “governments ' ‘to
attempt to curb inflation —
which sounds a little like the
advice given to King Canute
about the tide. ;

$67 BILLION DEST

Hot on the'‘heels of the
IMF dirge came a no-holds-
barred speech Monday to-
the Vancouver Board -of
Trade by Rowland Frazee,
president of the Royal Bank
of Canada. Initiatives
leading to a change for the
better, he declared, must
come from private citizens in
all sectors of society — the
most that government can
do is provide the right en-
vironment.

Unless we pull up our
socks, watned Mr. Frazee,
steeper inflation, higher
unemployment and reduced
purchasing power lic ahead.

The foreign debt, he told
his audience, was $60 billion
last year and is rising by
about $7 billion a year,
giving Canada the dubious
distinction of having the

|

. dollar,
* standard:is paidifor. by: loans.

highest per, capita foreign
debt in the world. —

Mr. Frazee blamed it
principally on Canada’s
lackadaisical export per-
formance, despite the ad-
vantage of our devalued
“Our high jiving

from foréigners,” “he said. .

“We've been borrowing .

abroad to cover the growing.

. difference ‘between © money

earned: and “money spent
outside the country. In
effect, we've also been
borrowing abroad to pay
foreigners their interest.
And now we're borrowing as
well to pay interest on the
interest.”

COLLAPSE

The third chillixg blast in
Monday’s - news package
came from Franz Pick, one
of the world’s most
respected and controversial
currency analysts, ad-
dressing a high-level seminar

financiers and monetary
experts in Montreal.

He predicted the collapse
of the U.S. monetary system
within 18 months and a gold
price of $500 an ounce by
the end of this year. “In one
to one and a half year’s
time”, he said, “the U.S:
economic system will be
ruined. e only things
remaining) will be precious
metals unimproved
land.”

"Mr. Pick blamed” the

business community for

failing | to oppose the in- . 7

| flationary policies. of

government’, in: ‘particular. eo
‘the printing of. paper money.”
“You can’t conserve. assets’ «
now with printed money. he -

declared.

“Since: 4940 the dollar has’ aa

depreciated 93 per ‘cent and
there’s no ‘such ‘thing: as an

investment anywhere on the -

globe today, because there's
no- return for an _in-
vestment.”. ~ _

Mr. Pick gpavea dramatic

example of.the current value.
. ‘of a. dollar today against its —
> “worth in‘:1940. (since when

the U.S. has increased its
money. supply by 25 per

cent). A $90,000 house today
_ is actually worth $6,300. in.

1940 and $68 worth of IBM

. stock is equivalent to $4.20.

“We want to live without.

any effort, but we forget

there is no income today,”.

he said. “You must accept
that since 1955 investment
has been killed and there's
no way out of it.”

COMFORTING “WE”

The IMF report, Mr.
Frazee and Mr. Pick coming
all on the same Monday are
a bit much to take, but I
have a nasty hunch that we

shall ‘ignore them at our:

peril. It’s a long time since
anyone has even attempted

to refute what they’ re saying, -

namely that we're living too
high off. the hog — that we're

. taking more out of the Kitty
- than we're putting into it

And, of course, because ~
: whati we're taking out of the

kitty’ is increasingly wor-
thless paper money, we're

fooling ourselves anyhow. ©

At ‘the end of that road ‘lies
the situation Germany
experienced in 1923 ~ with a
loaf of bread priced at one
million marks. |

The one weakness in all
these warnings — like those
of Finance Minister Crosbie
- lies, perhaps, in their
constant use of the word
“we”. It sounds so com-
fortingly detached. We
assume, naturally, that the
“we” they're talking about is
the country, the govern-
ment, the stock market, big
business, the unions.

It’s not.

They’re talking about me.
And about you.

The sooner we get that
fact into our thick heads and
start doitg something
personally about the
problem -- just me and you —
the sooner we'll put the
prophets | of doom out of
usiness

There's nobody else to do
the job.

US man’s license suspended

A 30-year-old U.S. man
who cut off another car as he
drove off Second Narrows
Bridge pleaded guilty in
North Vancouver Provincial
Court Wednesday to driving
with a blood alchohol level
over .08.

Crown Counsel fen
Paruk told the court that.a
car was driving on Main
Street when chacl Jef-
ferson exited from the

Jefferson's

Second Narrows Bridge and
moved into the fast lane
without yielding the right of
way.

The car that was cut off hit
vehicle, Paruk
said and was forced over
across the centre line and up
the curb on the other side.

An estimated $2,000 was
chused to the two cars.

Paruk said Jefferson was
tested and found to have a
blood alcohol level of .12

Judge John Layton said he
conld not suspend Jefferson
from driving in the U.S. and
he could not force him to
pay a fine once he returns
there.

But he said, Jefferson's
license would be suspended
for six months in Canada,
and he would be fined $350.

a “Welcome. to the Japanese Village,”
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Restaurant. Now you can savour a dining
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What is Teppanyaki? A variety of tender Japanese-style
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The answer is yes. (Hai!) Feppanyaki is all these good things |

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JAPAN ESE VILLAGE

Teppan Steak & Seafood House

Open 7 days a week from 5 p.m.
Major c days cards accepted.

For reservations, call 986-1165

83 Chesterfield, North Vancouver
Just ono block from the

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at 734 Broughton Street.

Tol. 382-5165