The Herle Burly was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as CN Rail.

Greetings you curiouser and curiouser Herle Burly-ites! Today on the show, somebody who bears the proud designation of most appearances on the pod. We call her the economist explainer-in-chief, but more officially, she's the senior vice president and chief economist at the Royal Bank of Canada: Frances Donald!

This one's got range. Frances walks us through the contradiction of retirees sitting on record wealth while showing up in the bottom income bracket, why productivity has become Canada's most tired yet most important word, and what actually happens if CUSMA falls apart. Spoiler, it's a story that’s a regional nightmare, and how data talk of Canada as a whole misses the story of those various regional economies and various demographic economies, where Canadians are experiencing things very, very differently from each other. And buckle up for a genuinely wild story about a trucking exec who's already quietly quit Canada and moved his whole operation to Texas. Finally, Frances leaves us with an economic metaphor: Canada is an out of shape guy who needs to lose 100 pounds.

Settle in for an hour with Frances Donald.

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