When Jean Chretien became prime minister in 1993, Canada faced a fiscal and economic breakdown. The government’s share of the economy had climbed to 53% in 1992, from 28% in 1960. Deficits had tripled as a percentage of gross domestic product over the prior two decades. Government debt was nearly 70% of GDP and growing rapidly. Interest payments on the... Read more
Archive for the ‘Debt’ Category
How Spending Cuts—Not Higher Taxes—Saved Canada
July 23 | Posted by mrossol | American Thought, Debt, Economics, Liberal Press, ObamaThe End of the Growth Consensus
July 23 | Posted by mrossol | American Thought, Debt, Economics, Party PoliticsBy JOHN B. TAYLOR This month marks the two-year anniversary of the official start of the recovery from the 2007-09 recession. But it’s a recovery in name only: Real gross domestic product growth has averaged only 2.8% per year compared with 7.1% after the most recent deep recession in 1981-82. The growth slowdown this year—to about 1.5% in the second quarter—is... Read more
Forget About Black Swans, the One Floating Ahead is Neon
July 23 | Posted by mrossol | Debt, Economics, US DebtNot sure why I haven’t seen anything close to this article yet. Right on the money! Forget About Black Swans, the One Floating Ahead is Neon – WSJ.com. You’ve heard of black swans—events that are unthinkably rare, immensely important, and as unpredictable in advance as they are inevitable in hindsight. Now, with no one ruling out a default or downgrade of U.S.... Read more
Get Ready for a 70% Marginal Tax Rate
July 19 | Posted by mrossol | Debt, Economics, ObamaBasis Econ 101, or mayby 201… ======== By MICHAEL J. BOSKIN President Obama has been using the debt-ceiling debate and bipartisan calls for deficit reduction to demand higher taxes. With unemployment stuck at 9.2% and a vigorous economic “recovery” appearing more and more elusive, his timing couldn’t be worse. Two problems arise when marginal tax rates are raised. First, as college students learn in... Read more
The Great Charade – Mark Steyn
July 17 | Posted by mrossol | Debt, Economics, ObamaBut hang on. I thought the Social Security checks came out of the famous “Social Security trust fund,” whose “trustees” assure us there’s currently $2.6 trillion in there. Which should be enough for the August 3rd check run, shouldn’t it? Golly, to listen to the president, you’d almost get the impression that, by the time you saw the padlock off... Read more
