„Ein nationales Problem“: Warum wir erleben, dass Provinzen große Haushaltsdefizite verzeichnen

OJ’s plan all along

Everybody votes for lower taxes. Then when the provinces expect a bigger slice from the federal pie, they soon realize that the feds were also voted in to lower taxes. Nobody wants to pay for anything they don’t use but when it’s needed and the services are substandard, the cry becomes ‚why has government let us down?‘ Look in the mirror.

This was always going to happen. This is why Trudeau’s plan to “slightly increase the deficit for only four years then go back to balance” was an idiotic plan.

In addition to the privatization of government services that end up costing more, stagnant wages means incoming tax revenues aren’t keeping up with inflation.

At the end of the day, Canada has a structural problem… we can’t decide whether we want a strong, centralized federal government or 10 loosely affiliated provincial governments, each forging its own path. And if that weren’t complicated enough, we increasingly have Indigenous governments seeking more say..not only over their own affairs, but over how the country is run, particularly when it comes to resources.

The result is a lot of red tape, a lot of duplication, and a lot of conflicting ideas, which ultimately leads to policy chaos. Add in elections every couple of years, with governments at all levels constantly changing course, and it’s no wonder very little of substance gets done. At this point, it’s often easier to let things stall or fall apart than to see them through.

We need a constitutional overhaul, but no one wants to go there…the last attempt nearly tore the country apart. But in trying to please everyone, Canada has ended up pleasing no one, and we’re all *literally* paying the price for it. That’s why we have so much debt.

Because Canadians expect European-level robust social services but financed at American level tax rates.

Because big business and wealthy Canadians don’t pay their share. Record profits and wealth everywhere we look, yet we’re a “poor” nation. We’re being had, and a non insignificant number of us are all in on the culture war distractions.

Is there any notion on working on tourism and bringing the dollars that way, I mean Quebec once had a reputation for world class food and service, now just food, Toronto is considered world class hospitality though lacking in what millionaires and billionaires like to spend on, Vancouver has world class seafood, I think it’s time we include focussing on what can bring in dollars instead of just what costs what. There should be a drive for boomers to sell all property in America and bring that money home, invest into a small business, or just start spending it at Canadian resorts, restaurants and iconic fixtures

Wage stagnation and too low corporate taxes.

If the price of everything except wages is inflating then the government can’t take in taxes at a rate able to pay for its other obligations. And tax corporations, any corporation that does business in a province should be taxed on their income generated.

And tax the rich.

Everytime there is an article about Canada’s economic decline, it’s the same story in the story in the comments about high taxes vs. low taxes, wealthy vs. poor, regulation vs. deregulation. I am 100% on board with discussions of class and how billionaires are actively working to influence and control us (and our governments) to protect their wealth. However, that was still true when housing was more affordable and we had good union jobs. 

What changed is demographics. It’s purely fiscal issue and a money velocity issue. It’s a fiscal issue because a shrinking tax base prevents your governments from investing in the kinds of public goods where businesses can’t or don’t want to assume the risk, but where the economic benefits are significant in the longer term (e.g. education, infrastructure, child-care). Politician are limited to short term thinking because basic services (e.g. health care) are lacking. 

It’s also a money velocity issue, because elderly people need to save and protect their assets. So they save more (spending less) and gradually transfer their savings away from high-growth equities (which allow for capital allocation to businesses primed for growth, but are less safe) and into safer assets (e.g. housing, bonds, telecoms, banks) which don’t really support economic growth at all.

We save or allocate most of our capital in an extremely risk averse way because of our ageing population, which inhibits growth, and shrinking tax revenues prevent us from addressing that structural issue.