>I assume you noticed that consumer spending grew 4.3% in Q4 while government spending dropped 7.5% ?
>
>Looking forward to final figures on 27 February...

Yes....but what really matters is on "what". Remember, there's a MANDATE on certain spending now. :)

What I'm curious about (and I don't have an answer) - the govt has some kind of projection on # who will have to pay a penalty (and/or # who were initially granted subsidies but now owe some). I wonder if they have factored that in. (I don't know)

John, bottom line. We continue to be in a slow recovery. There are some good/promising indicators and some weak indicators. That's usually the case in a slow recovery.