A group of Canadian economists have come together to sound the alarm regarding the devastating long-term consequences of recently proposed "stimulus" efforts to jump-start the economy. The website can be found at the following link.
Unsurprisingly, the economists are based out of Alberta, a conservative strong-hold in Canada and ...
Pardon?
They're not out of Alberta?
These economists are out of ... Quebec?!
We economists would like to alert our fellow citizens to the inefficiency involved in increasing public expenditures in order to counter the on-going recession. Under the excuse of a false consensus and the pressure of political considerations, governments ignore the long-term consequences of their interventions.
The massive programs of expenditure and regulation that the federal and Québec government are pushing are essentially meant to satisfy the demands of organized interests.
In the light of economic theory and history, we think that those measures, far from rebooting the economy, will mortgage the taxpayers’ incomes, make producers even more dependent of the state, provide stimulus for protectionism, and set the scene for even worse turmoil in the future.
If their real goal were to promote economic growth, our governments would instead choose to shrink the impediments to investment, work and production, especially by reducing the fiscal and regulatory burden of individuals and businesses.
Well, I'll be damned. As it turns out, many Quebec economists have more common sense than our allegedly conservative Prime Minister. Go figure.
H/t Back Off Government
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