Quote:
Originally Posted by crazy_eoj
What a strange way to quantify spending. Why should we pay double for the same services just because the price of oil went up?
Have more = Spend more....?
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There's nothing at all strange about benchmarking spending as a percentage of GDP. It is, in fact, arguably the best measure to compare how much different governments are spending in real dollars. You will also find that debt is frequently measured as a percentage of GDP as well.
And it's not an issue of have more = spend more. When the economy is hot, you get inflation, which means the cost of labour and goods also increases. So you have to spend more just to provide the same level if service. This is seriously like Economics 101 type knowledge. Do you think it costs the same to build a highway, school, or hospital in Alberta as it does in PEI? If not, can you explain why?