OTTAWA—Given the fragile economic recovery and the weak job market, now is not the time for a sharp turn to spending cuts, says a study released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
“It would be a huge mistake to significantly tighten the fiscal screws,” says the study’s author, economist Andrew Jackson. “While debt has risen due to the Great Recession, there will be a major human and economic cost if deficits are eliminated before a real recovery has been achieved.”
The study points out that debt in Canada—even after two years of stimulus—is still at very low levels compared to other countries, and compared to the mid-1990s. It warns against repeating the major spending cuts of the 1990s, which shredded social programs and public services.
“Cuts will shrink rather than raise our economic potential. We need to maintain high rates of public and private investment to boost our future rate of growth,” Jackson says.
Balancing the books can be done without spending cuts or raising taxes: deficits and debt will shrink rapidly so long as interest rates are lower than the rate of economic growth and interest rates are at historically low levels today.
Once the economy has recovered, the report recommends changes in taxation in order to address the small structural deficit and to meet the costs of an ageing population.
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Big Train Coming: Does Canada Really Have a Deficit and Debt Problem? is available on the CCPA website: http://policyalternatives.ca
For more information contact Kerri-Anne Finn, CCPA Senior Communications Officer, at 613-563-1341 x306.
The CCPA is Canada’s leading organization for articulating progressive, positive social policy reform. Ever constructive and independent, the CCPA’s respected voice has helped produce substantial results in the movement for true democracy and equality of opportunity that all Canadians can support.
— David Eby, Executive Director
BC Civil Liberties Association