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'PAGE 4, WEDNESDAY, JANT TARY 3,1979. WH1TY FPEE PRESS whitbyPbihdeer ensa b ...Publlshing 4 ~and Photography ne. Volc oftheCounty ownMicaelIan ures Pbliher.Mamin dit * Te Free Press Building, Voceo te ont Tw Mche ln ugs, Pb se- a.gng E or 131 Brock Street North, 'Ihe only Whltby newspaper independently owned and operated by Whltby residents for Whltby residents. P.O. Box 206, Whitby, On nomWibyCabr0fCmec Community Editor -Brian Winter Contributing Éditor -Jrn Ouaii Production Maniage' -Marie Burgess Print & Promotional Manager -Robin tInn Ciassified Ad Leesa Menardl Circulation Manager -Sharoý Lyon Mailing Permit No. 460 Member of the: Better Business Bureau of Toronto iThIlkm i L byJimSmnithI The Dreaded Facilitîtis The amazing aspect of Ca- nada's dismal economic per- formance lsn't so much the fact that we have high unein- ployment (other countries are also short of jobs) or (bat we have high inflation (other coun- tries are finding the value of the local currcncy dropping). The arnazing aspect is that Ca- nadais widely believed te have a "Ipranned" economy. No, lt's not like the Soviet Union or China where work- ers are lnstructed to report te specif le plants and perfdrmn specifle jobs. We don't follow the communlst world's philo- sophy of stage ownership (if you can Ignore operations like Air Canada, the CNR and - slgh - the Pest Office). But we do operate under strong goy- ernient Influence when it cornes to determlnlng the struc- Sure of our industry. The namtes of the folks who plan the Canadian eeonomny art not widely known (most of our planners preler anony- mlty - for reasons obvious to unyone who bas studled the nation's economic perforinan- ce). However, these shadowy figures do exist and tbey do exert enormous influence over our economic operation. Unfortunately, these na- tional planners ail suffer from a common affliction known as "fa.iltitis". In Canada's case, facilititis threatens to prove fatal. Facilititis develops graduai- ly. At first, there's nothlng more involved than a vague bellef tbat big business does thlngs more efficiently thail smaller business. Gradually, this insidious diseas takes hold. Before long, the victlm is convlncedl that production proceeds most efflciently If ail the littie plants can be merged into Just a bandful of very big plants. Sooner or'later, the patient reaches the tragie con- clusion that Canada can sur- vive only if the varlous corn- panles ln each manufacturing lndustry combine into one monstrous firrn. "Worîd scule efficlency" is the term that victims in ad- vanced stages of facilititis (lit- erallY, the bellef in the value of very large faciitiies) ulti- unately begin to babble Itys- terically. Time and again, the patient will state categorically thàt Canada can't conîpete with other nations'because our manufacturing plants are too small. SFacilititis, In effec, causes the victim te wear blinders when surveying the economy. Matters like unrealistically high wage rates, the shortage of high technology industries, foreign control over Canada's production decisions and re- strictions on imports of Cana- dian-made goods by other nations escape the attention of those afflicted with facili- titis. One doctor summed up the tragie condition of a facfilitis patient under bis care as fol- lows: "The poor chap is con- vinced that the cure for the Canadian economny is to bulld plants large enough to produce ail the refrigerators and auto- mobile tires demanded by the entire world. Hàe refuses to un- derstand tbat there mnust be demand for those refrigerators and tires, tee; otherwise ail those goods wlll end up ln warehouses. li's a truly sad case. There'Is almost no hope of Canada acquirlng larer foreign markets." Faciiltitis. Remember the tern (lhe next tinte our nation's leaders suggest that Canada needs to combine more of our smaller firms s mb a few large manufacturlng flrmns. They are slck men. They need your sym- pathy. message f rom the Canadian Federation of Independent I Business@ Someè economuc growth seen for 1979 Canadian economny The Canadian economny during 1979,should achieve furtfier moderate expansion in output and employmient. according to (;ord'oîi Ucl. president of the ('anadian Bankers' Association (CBA). 1le also forecast a possîile reduction in cost-ol'-living increases but a somewlîat higher unemploymient rate. Bell suggests in a year- end econornic forecast that the country's real gross nia- tional produet -- the sumn of ail goods and services -- like- ly will rise by three per cent or a bit more, compared with an estimated growth of close to four per cent for 1978. The, executive vice-presi- dent and chief general man- ager of The Bank of Nova Scotia said this might push the unemployment rate higher. But the biggest part of the proble.m would lie in its regional distribution "and in the other structural im- plications of a rising propor- tion of womnen workers and of new youthful entrants to the labor force.- Bell said that for 1 979, as for 1978, "the Canadian econoniy will be having to chart. a pretty difficult course." The struggle to re-estah- lish a healthy growth pattern while controlling inflation would have 10 lbe waged a- ga inst a backdrop of aslower Gordon Bell United States economy and of persistent international strains, perhaps further coin- plicated by political and re- gional differences. 6'Yet a good niany con- structive forces are at work hoth in Canada and abroad; and while the economic trends in 1979 may stilî fal short of what otne would ideaîîy like to see, the real challenge wilI be to keep moving soundly ahcad into HAPPY- NEW' YEARI 1 91 bt.