Speech (committee meeting)

{
    "time": "2009-03-26 10:15:00",
    "attribution": {
        "en": "Mr. Daryl Kramp",
        "fr": ""
    },
    "content": {
        "en": "<p data-HoCid=\"1390420\" data-originallang=\"en\"> In the world of science, of course, things can be exact, but in the forecasting business it certainly is abstract, because you're dealing with that little thing called humanity, and I've never met anything quite as unpredictable as that yet.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"1390421\" data-originallang=\"en\">As a matter of fact, we seem to have this changing world and these uncharted waters, and I think everybody recognizes that. Of course, we had the PBO here yesterday, who essentially, in the course of a few weeks, has junked even his original forecast. So certainly--and I will quote one of Mr. Drummond's statements--this has been a humbling experience.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"1390422\" data-originallang=\"en\">Knowing that, my concern, of course, is how we as a government react to this. Do we react every time there is a movement? Do we revise an entire economic plan on a daily basis? How do you react in an intelligent, capable fashion when a lot of the factors, quite frankly, are beyond our control, whether it's the Obama administration or others?</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"1390423\" data-originallang=\"en\">Knowing the fact that we have a deficit that could be $60 billion or $70 billion, or $80 billion by some estimates, over a period of time.... Obviously, everybody would prefer the lower proportion of that, but is it a fair statement to say that at least we have the financial capacity--you've mentioned the debt-to-GDP ratio--to move forward with a plan? Knowing that we have the financial capacity to deal with that and that we can at least move on a path that has a solid sense of direction, we can rationalize.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"1390424\" data-originallang=\"en\"> Would that be a fair comment, Mr. Hodgson?</p>",
        "fr": "<p data-HoCid=\"1390420\" data-originallang=\"en\"> Bien s\u00fbr, dans le domaine des sciences, on peut pr\u00e9tendre \u00e0 l'exactitude, mais dans le domaine des pr\u00e9visions \u00e9conomiques, les choses sont assur\u00e9ment plus compliqu\u00e9es, car il faut tenir compte d'un facteur qui, selon moi, est le plus impr\u00e9visible de tous, je veux parler des \u00eatres humains. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"1390421\" data-originallang=\"en\">De fait, nous semblons nous trouver en terrain inconnu, dans un monde en train de se transformer. Je crois que tout le monde est conscient de cela. Hier, le directeur parlementaire du budget nous a dit, essentiellement, qu'en quelques semaines, il avait d\u00fb revoir ses pr\u00e9visions initiales. Pour paraphraser M. Drummond, cela a \u00e9t\u00e9 assur\u00e9ment une le\u00e7on d'humilit\u00e9. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"1390422\" data-originallang=\"en\">Cela dit, ma pr\u00e9occupation concerne \u00e9videmment la mani\u00e8re dont le gouvernement r\u00e9agira \u00e0 cela. Devons-nous r\u00e9agir \u00e0 chaque fluctuation du march\u00e9? Devons-nous r\u00e9viser chaque jour notre plan \u00e9conomique dans son int\u00e9gralit\u00e9? Comment r\u00e9agir de mani\u00e8re intelligente et comp\u00e9tente lorsque, en toute honn\u00eatet\u00e9, bien des facteurs d\u00e9pendent non pas de notre volont\u00e9, mais de celle de l'administration Obama ou d'autres instances?</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"1390423\" data-originallang=\"en\">Compte tenu du fait que notre d\u00e9ficit pourrait s'\u00e9lever \u00e0 60 ou \u00e0 70 milliards de dollars, ou m\u00eame \u00e0 80 milliards de dollars selon certaines pr\u00e9visions, pendant un certain temps... De toute \u00e9vidence, tout le monde souhaite que le d\u00e9ficit soit le moins \u00e9lev\u00e9 possible, mais est-il raisonnable de dire que nous poss\u00e9dons \u00e0 tout le moins la capacit\u00e9 financi\u00e8re \u2014 vous avez mentionn\u00e9 le ratio de la dette au PIB \u2014 d'aller de l'avant et de mettre en oeuvre un plan \u00e9conomique? Sachant que nous avons la capacit\u00e9 financi\u00e8re de le faire et que nous pouvons au moins nous engager dans une voie avec une orientation claire, nous pouvons l'envisager. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"1390424\" data-originallang=\"en\">Ce que je viens de dire est-il raisonnable, monsieur Hodgson?</p>"
    },
    "url": "/committees/finance/40-2/17/daryl-kramp-2/",
    "politician_url": "/politicians/daryl-kramp/",
    "politician_membership_url": "/politicians/memberships/1415/",
    "procedural": false,
    "source_id": "p1390420",
    "document_url": "/committees/finance/40-2/17/",
    "related": {
        "document_speeches_url": "/speeches/?document=%2Fcommittees%2Ffinance%2F40-2%2F17%2F"
    }
}