Canada is so predictable and that is maybe not a bad thing

Invest Canada, a government agency established to attact overseas investment in Canada, is running an advertising campaign abroad which culminates the tagline, "Canada is so predictable", suggesting that Canada is a safe and cautious, even if unexciting, place for foreign investors to park their money. It has a stable macroeconomy and safer-than-safe banks, and you may not make a killing here but you won't lose your shirt.

Some Canadians in the financial industry, though, are incensed and shocked - shocked, I tell you! - that Canada would sell itself short in this way. They argue that Canada's advertising  should be all about innovation, entrepreneurship and ambition, as well as equal opportunities, multiculturalism, tolerance and respect.

Well, I haven't seen the ad, but it seems to me that Canada could do a lot worse than portray itself as a safe amd reliable country, especially after the roller-coaster ride of the last couple of years. Some people thrive on stress and risk, but many more don't, and, particularly as I get older, I am right there with them. 

There are still many risky places where you can gamble your money - you could go into tech startups, cryptocurrrencies or the developing markets. But there are not that many places where you can mitigate your risk while still making a respectable profit, and I can well believe that there is quite an appetite for that kind of thing at the moment. Canada is one of those places and I for one, am more than happy to be considered polite, boring and pedictable in these perilous and precarious times.