The Harper government's decision last year to write off every penny of the auto aid and
thus build it all into last year's deficit calculation (which I questioned at the time as curious and even misleading) has already been proven wrong. Since the money was already «written off» by Ottawa as a loss (on grounds that they had
little confidence it would be repaid — contradicting their own assurances at the same time that it was an «investment,» not a bail - out), any repayment will come as a gain that can be recorded in the budget on the revenue side. Jim Flaherty has learned from past Finance Ministers (especially Paul Martin) that it's always politically better to make the budget situation look worse than it is (even when the bottom has fallen out of the balance),
thus positioning yourself to triumphantly announce «surprising good
news» (due, no doubt, to «careful fiscal management») down the road. The auto package could
thus generate as much as $ 10 billion in «surprising good
news» for Ottawa in the years to come (depending on the ultimate worth of the public equity share).
By way of
news - for - nerds blog Slashdot comes word that IBM is seeking to patent a tool for identifying areas within industries in which
little patenting activity is taking place —
thus allowing businesses to step in and fill that IP void.