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Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch
I was talking more in generalities Jammies
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Generalities are generally (hah!) based on specifics. So, specifically, where does this fear of unnecessary and exorbitant taxation arise? It must come from somewhere, because it's brought up in every single discussion of the provincial deficit, and possible solutions, that I've ever seen on CP, by a wide variety of posters. and not just you.
I think that if a possible solution is dismissed without discussion, there are only two likely reasons: one, the solution is obviously impractical after even cursory review (although this didn't stop the Socreds back in the day from implementing all kinds of loony economic policies); or two, the dismissal is on the basis of reflexive ideology and not reason.
There is an optimal level of taxation which maximizes government revenue while minimizing the negative effects on the economy. The idea that this optimal level is always below the current level is an ideological touchstone of "fiscally responsible" people, but that doesn't make it true. Nor is the idea that giving the government more money automatically equates to it being exclusively spent on waste any more rational, nor true. When I see people making either of those arguments, I have trouble taking their further arguments seriously, because they aren't really arguments so much as axioms: either believe, or disbelieve, but either way discussion is likely to be pointless.