Government Limited, published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives in 1984, challenged the view that big government was responsible for Canada’s economic crisis of the time.
The fundamental problem with government, according to author John Calvert, was its subordination to business interests. This resulted in the adoption of regressive social and economic policies which sacrificed the interests of ordinary Canadians to placate the insatiable demands of the corporate sector.
Calvert is no apologist for governments. He holds that the mismanagement of the public sector by pro-business governments resulted in widespread alienation among citizens towards public programs. Excessive secrecy and lack of accountability are logical characteristics of governments which promote corporate interests at the expense of the needs of ordinary Canadians.
The solution to Canada’s economic crisis of the time and to the deteriorating financial situation of governments lies in the adoption of a fundamentally different approach to economic policy. Calvert puts forward a controversial 10-point Alternative Economic Strategy which he believed could form the basis of this approach.
