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Originally Posted by heep223
Alright. Well at least the CPC responded the right way to the global meltdown by implementing accommodative policy and then committing to rebalancing the budget when it passed. Though I think you meant to say fiscal policy, as you used an example of infrastructure spending. Monetary policy has immediate impacts.
The issue is that once you start the cycle of very loose fiscal policy, it becomes very difficult and unpopular to reverse course. If the Liberals actually follow through on decreasing the deficit after this cyclical macro weakness, I will be impressed.
You need to look at the size of the debt load compared to the size of the economy. What if a conservative took on $1 more of debt but grew the economy by an additional $1B? Ridiculous example but shows the over-simplicity of what you're saying.
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Well the Cons were trying to deregulate banks, USA style. Thankfully that didn't pass or we would have had a US style crash.
Harper and Flaherty did bail out the auto industry. They sold those investment last year to show a surplus in an election year. From what I read, they sold at a loss.
They kept the housing market afloat by extending mortgages to 40 years and 0 down payments. They have since been reversing those changes as they realized what bubble they created.
They lowered the interest rates to boost the economy. The public has since gotten themselves in highest levels of debt ever. We read about new highs every month or two.
So yup, we did alright in the short term.