I am so sick of people trying to use “the national debt” to justify their support of harmful, thoughtless policies from greedy, self-serving politicians.
If people are genuinely so concerned about our national debt that they are willing to sacrifice healthcare, education and the CPP (which I don’t think most people really are), the focus should, realistically, be on increasing revenues (given that capitalism requires that our population and spending continue to grow).
I can think of 3 very easy, proven ways to increase government revenues: tax corporations, tax the rich, and enforce tax laws to prevent tax evasion by corporations and the rich.
That’s unthinkable for these financial realists, though. Because, after all, what if they themselves become rich someday? I mean, it’s only a matter of time, right?
The truth is that we, in Canada, have had the lowest net debt to GDP ratio in the G7 for the last TWENTY years, and there is no sign of that changing any time soon.
Canada’s government revenues grew more than expected for 2023-2024, which is an indication of well executed economic policy promoting strong labour market performance and consumer spending. Even as income tax revenue decreased due to income tax cuts by the liberal government over the last 5 years, we still exceeded market expectations for economic growth in 2024 by 1.7%.
Canada is among the 10 largest economies on earth and is one of the largest trading nations on earth and we have maintained our international standing through a global pandemic that had a dramatic impact on the global economy. In 2020 the GLOBAL GDP fell by 3.4%. The US GDP fell by 3.5%.
Canada’s fell by 1.3%
I wish these people cared half as much about all that as they do about how many bonds the government has issued to Canadian banks, pension funds, and insurance companies but these people don’t care about any of it enough to be even the slightest bit informed. They would rather believe that our government is breaking under the yolk of some amorphous foreign power (probably China) because they think it justifies their excitement about the prospect cutting school lunch programs. Because let’s be real, if those kids wanted to eat, they should have thought about that before they became peasants, amirite?
At the end of the day, though, it’s all just nonsense that we made up. Human beings created these ridiculous systems of power and control while every other animal on earth lives, eats, and dies for free.
It’s all a bit silly, isn’t it? Worrying about the “national debt” more than whether the policies proposed by some people who want to be in power might hurt your neighbours, friends, or family. Or maybe I’m silly for expecting better from people. Either way, I hate it.
Calamity out.
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The Prolific Progressive 