Carney's plan to cut tens of billions in spending is tough but doable, experts say
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I’m going to sound like a moron asking this, but if the country makes over 2 trillion per year, and we are only spending 4 some-odd billion per year, shouldn’t we be able to get out of debt while staying afloat over time?
Because we tax ~0.44T on our 2.2T GDP. Or about 20%.
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I agree, but unfortunately that’s basically never going to happen. At least not in our lifetimes.
One of Canada’s greatest flaws is that we followed the US into car-dependent, suburban-sprawl at the catastrophic expense of everything else. We have spent decade upon decade investing unfathomable amounts of money into building the most dysfunctional cities imaginable and ensuring there is no practical way of getting in or out of them except a car.
We built car dependancy starting in 60, though about 80 in ernest.
We fucked our cities over 40-60 years, and we’re seeing the turning point happen in real time right now. Most cities have the policies in place now, or coming in the next 5 years.
On the roads side there’s a 45 year lag for recapitalization. On the construction side, harder to tell.
It won’t happen in my lifetime, but it will happen in my kid’s.
Stay the course and we can do it.
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Because we tax ~0.44T on our 2.2T GDP. Or about 20%.
Ah ok so if I’m understanding this, the 2.2T we make is all of our collective earnings, which we then get taxed on, which in turn pays for our services and those who help keep things going (i.e. police, firefighters, gov workers) and such ALONG WITH paying down the debt and building up the infrastructure where it’s needed?
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Ah ok so if I’m understanding this, the 2.2T we make is all of our collective earnings, which we then get taxed on, which in turn pays for our services and those who help keep things going (i.e. police, firefighters, gov workers) and such ALONG WITH paying down the debt and building up the infrastructure where it’s needed?
Exactly. Consider it like family X making $220,000 combined income, but paying $44,000 in federal taxes. The remaining $176 is the family’s money to spent (at least before the provincial tax slice).
Edit: and to be clear, $440B is federal taxes. Some of the things you mentioned are paid for by provincial or municipal taxes.
