Andrew Coyne: The federal budget is a testament to the pleasures of endless growth. Forget productivity, tax cuts or investment

  • 📰 nationalpost
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 67 sec. here
  • 3 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 30%
  • Publisher: 80%

Business News News

Business Business Latest News,Business Business Headlines

Andrew Coyne: This budget is a testament to the pleasures of endless growth. Forget productivity, tax cuts or investment

The 2019 federal budget, like all recent federal budgets, is a tribute to the pleasures of endless economic growth.

Indeed, so steady has the revenue-gusher been — no government has ever had as much money to play with, measured in inflation-adjusted dollars per citizen — that the Liberals have been obliged to perform quite heroic feats of spending just to keep pace. Though real per capita spending is at all-time record levels, the deficit remains stubbornly below one per cent of GDP — hardly a deficit at all, really.

Indeed, they’re not even supposed to. Their impact is, first, symbolic — behold, we run deficits because we like to, whereas the previous government did so only grudgingly! — and second, to permit the government to spend more, mostly on the care and feeding of Liberal client groups. It is time, then, for the conversation to move on: from how spending is financed to what it is spent on, from the size of government to its composition, from the macro to the micro. Deficits of this size are not going to ruin us, as the opposition claims; neither would eliminating them, as the finance minister pretends.

Perhaps one day something a little more stringent will be attempted. And perhaps this budget’s signature initiatives on training and housing, which give every impression of having been cooked up in the Prime Minister’s Office, if not in party election planning sessions, will be the subject.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.

This is what Canadians voted for.

Yeah Willy Porno is all about 'pleasures' as he proudly professed his favourite moments in life involve jism. LibsAreDone

20 billion more in debt and no plan to rein in this out of control “bribery” by Trudeau, it’s funny that the fools supporting Trudeau’s spending Ways are happily agreeing to mountains of debt for their children and grandchildren...either insanely partisan or fools...

mrbinnion JustinTrudeau Bill_Morneau MaximeBernier AndrewScheer The continuation of a Liberal tradition of trying to buy votes with the voters own money. This does not end well if we don't get the Liberals out of Ottawa.

staines_andyjoy I have not heard any of the Dumocratic hopefuls use the the word growth in any of their speeches....

mrbinnion All borrowed money to begin with.

Would you like to comment on the fact that the general public could not hear the Finance Minister speak? Thought that should be first up on your list.

mrbinnion Very profound. Anything in particular you don't like or is it the whole thing?

folcaraj The government needs to stop spending and start saving. We need to sift through the different programs; pick out which ones are important and keep and which ones to discard; then we need to try to woo investors back to Canada. then open up interprovincial free trade

I don’t trust the liberals one lil bit

DoogerNorth This budget was be fools and vote for lying corrupt scandal ridden liberals again

Endless growth of what debt?

Corporate tax cuts are a bust!!! Never works out. Targeted initiatives like this lead to a better future! Will do more to stimulate economic growth than the tax cut!! Guaranteed!

Bribing the useful idiots and hoping intelligent Canadians just hold their nose I think they realize they probably be around after this election and it will be either the NDP or Conservatives that have to deal with any fallout

We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 10. in BUSİNESS

Business Business Latest News, Business Business Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Andrew Coyne: This budget is a testament to the pleasures of endless growth. Forget productivity, tax cuts or investmentIn the rush to get all that spending out the door, little thought appears to have been given to whether the money is being spent in the best way RobBreakenridge Endless growth 😂
Source: nationalpost - 🏆 10. / 80 Read more »