Investing In A Pandemic World

Launching an investment column in the midst of the biggest economic meltdown in investment history is a peculiar thing to do, and yet, here we are. Actually, the timing may be excellent: given the parameters and objectives of this column – how not to invest, as much as how to invest – what better time to wade in? If you’re a seasoned investor, the past few months most likely have you huddled in the basement under the stairs, sucking your thumb and rocking back and forth. The market has been pounded, and justifiably so – the strategy of governments to contain COVID-19 involves essentially shutting down large sectors of the economy. One can easily surmise that industries like tourism, air travel, etc. will be in big trouble; the problem is determining how far the rot goes – if an airline fails, or many of them, what industries does it take down with it? In a highly interconnected world, the answers are not clear.

Rather than panic and throw in the towel though (as some investors appear to have done), it is wise to stop hyperventilating if you can and consider the landscape without the lens of panic. First, the pounding in the stock market simply erased the extraordinary gains made in the past several years. As of writing, the S&P 500 Index ETF (exchange traded fund, which invests in a basket of stocks that mirrors the S&P 500 companies on behalf of individuals) is now back at a level of two years ago. Today’s data point might look like a disaster relative to the value of the portfolio 4 months ago, but that paper gain to the end of 2019 was a bit suspect anyway and most expected a market correction of some kind. Not quite like this one of course, but of some kind.

Second, governments around the world now have an arsenal of tools with which to stabilize economies. Or, more like they have a variety of smaller tools and one really big one: a great big freaking printing press to crank out money and shovel into the economy’s engines. There are many arguments as to why this is a bad idea in the long run, and they may all be right, but over the past few decades these strategies have become the norm. Government-led monetary tinkering, on ever-larger scales, saved the financial world in the 2008-9 Great Recession by flooding the world with bank-stabilizing money, and that success convinced those central bankers that this tool has no practical limits. The world is now so interlinked and dependent on central bankers’ policies that shouting about how they will destroy the financial world eventually is like a dog barking at a car. We need to think and act as though these policies aren’t going away. Because they’re not.

Governments, in this consumption-based world, can see the perils of allowing huge swathes of the global economy to perish. We may sneer = at a consumer-based culture, but we wet our pants when we consider the alternative. We need to learn to do things as cleanly as possible, but nowhere in the world does anyone want to see tourism grind to a halt, or people stop buying automobiles, or cosmetics, or any other mainstay of our economy.

As a result, those central banks and governments won’t let it happen. They will pump in money, and they will ease restrictions as soon as possible to get things back to work. It is a challenging time to consider putting money in the stock market (if you’re lucky enough to have some, and a job to boot), but some great companies are on sale in a huge way now. We can see, for example, that anything to do with the food/medicine/distribution systems is of critical importance. Given the fact that governments will print money to shove at anything the general population can’t live without, it is safe to assume those sectors will pull through. Same as natural gas and other industrially-critical materials – the whole climate change narrative has been stuffed in a trunk for the time being. No one wants to face next winter with a natural gas industry that’s gone out of business.

There is of course risk that the markets would continue to fall, based on the fact that there is so much uncertainty in the world with respect to demand erosion and recovery timing. But if the big blue-chip companies that provide our industrial lifelines go defunct and irreparably damage your portfolio, well, we’ll all have much bigger problems to worry about.

For more stories, visit Todayville Calgary

Terry Etam

Terry Etam is a twenty-five-year veteran of Canada’s energy business. He has worked at a number of occupations spanning the finance, accounting, communications, and trading aspects of energy, and has written for several years on his own website Public Energy Number One and the widely-read industry site the BOE Report. In 2019, his first book, The End of Fossil Fuel Insanity, was published. Mr. Etam has been called an industry thought leader and the most influential voice in the oil patch. He lives in Calgary, Alberta.

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Carney government risks fiscal crisis of its own making

Published on October 25, 2025

Todayville

From the Fraser Institute

By Jake Fuss and Grady Munro

In his recent pre-budget speech in Ottawa, Prime Minister Mark Carney repeated his pledge to make “generational investments” in his government’s first budget on Nov. 4. Of course, “investments” means spending, and the government is poised to run a large deficit and add to the mountain of federal debt. Also in his speech, the prime minister said he “will always be straight about the challenges we have to face and the choices that we must make.” Yet he makes no mention of the risks associated with continued deficit-spending and a ballooning federal debt.

Meanwhile, according to a recent article co-authored by Kevin Page, former Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO), the Carney government should continue to run budget deficits to benefit “current and future generations” of Canadians. And Page (and co-authors) push back against warnings from the current PBO that the government’s finances are unsustainable—noting that “there is no fiscal crisis.”

And he’s right. Canada does not currently face a fiscal crisis. But the Carney government seems determined to create one.

First, some quick fiscal history. The federal government has run a deficit (i.e. spent more money than it collects in revenue) every year since 2007/08, spanning both Conservative and Liberal governments, meaning it’s been nearly two decades since the government balanced its budget. And over the last 10 years (i.e. the Trudeau era) there’s been no meaningful effort to work towards budget balance.

Of course, deficits produce debt. From 2014/15 to 2024/25, total federal debt has doubled from $1.1 trillion to a projected $2.2 trillion, and as a share of the economy, increased from 53.0 per cent to a projected 70.0 per cent.

Simply put, when government debt grows faster than the economy, government finances are on an unsustainable path that may lead to a fiscal crisis. The last time Canada faced a fiscal crisis was the early 1990s when total federal debt represented more than 80 per cent of the economy and the federal government spent roughly one in every three dollars of revenue collected each year on debt interest. In response to Ottawa’s inability to control its finances, lenders increased interest rates because lending money to Ottawa became a riskier proposition. Things became so dire that the Wall Street Journal penned an editorial arguing Canada had become “an honorary member of the Third World in the unmanageability of its debt problem.”

While Ottawa’s finances today aren’t as precarious as they were back then, a decade of record-breaking spending and debt accumulation has brought us closer to a fiscal crisis.

The Carney government faces significant challenges including the spectre of more U.S. tariffs, a stagnant economy and the need to significantly ramp up Canada’s military spending. Again, despite promising a “very different approach” to fiscal policy than the previous government, the prime minister’s recent speech reinforced expectations that the government will significantly increase spending and borrowing this year and in years to come. Indeed, the PBO recently projected that total government debt will rise to 79.2 per cent of the economy by 2028/29.

When defending this status quo approach, the government and its defenders essentially argue that we can keep running larger deficits because Ottawa’s finances are not in bad shape compared to the past or compared to other developed countries (which is actually not true), and that Canada enjoys a strong credit rating that helps keep borrowing costs down.

But in reality, they also effectively argue that we should continue down a path to a fiscal crisis simply because we haven’t reached the end yet. This is reckless, to say the least. The closer we get to a fiscal crisis the harder (and costlier to Canadians) it will be to avoid it.

To get Ottawa’s finances back in order before it’s too late, the government should reduce spending, shrink the deficit and slow the amount of debt accumulation. Unfortunately, the Carney government appears to be running in the opposite direction.

Jake Fuss

Director, Fiscal Studies, Fraser Institute

Grady Munro

Policy Analyst, Fraser Institute

Business

Trump Admin Establishing Council To Make Buildings Beautiful Again

Published on October 24, 2025

Todayville

From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Jason Hopkins

The Trump administration is creating a first-of-its-kind task force aimed at ushering in a new “Golden Age” of beautiful infrastructure across the U.S.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) will announce the establishment of the Beautifying Transportation Infrastructure Council (BTIC) on Thursday, the Daily Caller News Foundation exclusively learned. The BTIC seeks to advise Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on design and policy ideas for key infrastructure projects, including highways, bridges and transit hubs.

“What happened to our country’s proud tradition of building great, big, beautiful things?” Duffy said in a statement shared with the DCNF. “It’s time the design for America’s latest infrastructure projects reflects our nation’s strength, pride, and promise.”

“We’re engaging the best and brightest minds in architectural design and engineering to make beautiful structures that move you and bring about a new Golden Age of Transportation,” Duffy continued.

Mini scoop – here is the DOT’s rollout of its Beautifying Transportation Infrastructure Council, which will be tasked with making our buildings beautiful again. pic.twitter.com/9iV2xSxdJM

— Jason Hopkins (@jasonhopkinsdc) October 23, 2025

The DOT is encouraging nominations of the country’s best architects, urban planners, artists and others to serve on the council, according to the department. While ensuring that efficiency and safety remain a top priority, the BTIC will provide guidance on projects that “enhance” public areas and develop aesthetic performance metrics.

The new council aligns with an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in August 2025 regarding infrastructure. The “Making Federal Architecture Beautiful Again” order calls for federal public buildings in the country to “respect regional architectural heritage” and aims to prevent federal construction projects from using modernist and brutalist architecture styles, instead returning to a classical style.

“The Founders, in line with great societies before them, attached great importance to Federal civic architecture,” Trump’s order stated. “They wanted America’s public buildings to inspire the American people and encourage civic virtue.”

“President George Washington and Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson consciously modeled the most important buildings in Washington, D.C., on the classical architecture of ancient Athens and Rome,” the order continued. “Because of their proven ability to meet these requirements, classical and traditional architecture are preferred modes of architectural design.”

The DOT invested millions in major infrastructure projects since Trump’s return to the White House. Duffy announced in August a $43 million transformation initiative of the New York Penn Station in New York City and in September unveiledmajor progress in the rehabilitation and modernization of Washington Union Station in Washington, D.C.

The BTIC will comprise up to 11 members who will serve two-year terms, with the chance to be reappointed, according to the DOT. The task force will meet biannually. The deadline for nominations will end Nov. 21.