Quote:
Originally Posted by Slava
Well in reality this was a huge reason that Alberta became debt free. We privatized all sorts of things in the 90's including the liquor stores just as Ontario is planning. Yes there were cuts as well, but that step shouldn't be missed by observers.
As far as how companies budget, I laugh about that all time. People who say they want governments to run like a business are not only romanticizing how they operate, but they are also embracing borrowing money. And of course people can't run their budget like a government because they don't have the power of taxation at their hands.
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I don't dispute that in any way. However, we (AB) became debt-free by creating a large infrastructure gap that we are paying for now. For the better part of the 90s/2k we put-off needed projects in order to make the balance sheet look clean. All you're doing in that case is kicking the can further down the line.
Wynne is facing a somewhat similar issue, in that the provincial government neglected infrastructure investment for ever and is now trying to spend their way out of 70 years of poorly-managed public infrastructure. It won't work, especially when you're playing with someone else's money.
To be clear, I enjoyed Alberta being debt-free. Doing so gives the province the opportunity to make prudent investment in times of need and manage crises ahead of time. I would say though that there was still debt, it just wasn't measured in dollars.
What will be a struggle over the next generation is three levels of government that will attempt to cannibalize the others in order to balance their own budgets, as well as the effects of the baby-boomer generation retiring. Paying for pensions, social services, and whatnot for an ageing economic workforce is a serious conversation we aren't having, and will be a growing issue in the next decade as well.