Quote:
Originally Posted by DiracSpike
“Privatize the gains”? You do know that the crown receives royalties on every barrel produced in this province, right? Any subsidies and incentives they gave to develop the technology to produce the oil sands have been paid back in multiples, and the vast share of capital expended to grow production to current levels has been private capex by the private companies that are present there. As mentioned by accord share and bond holders have been slaughtered lately while the government collects their nut no matter what. The “public losses private gains” phrase was en vogue when it was actually applicable, when banks in the us made billions making knowingly risky bets and then had the liability paid off by the taxpayer. Now it’s just common leftist parlance to throw that out about any industry they don’t like. Its not at all applicable in this case and if you want to make that argument you’re going to need better evidence than your personal opinion on the decor in fort McMurray.
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Trust me I get it. No need for personal attacks. My point is that huge tax breaks and other incentives led to a bloated industry that now has transportation and cost and debt problems. So its not laissez faire. A true market system with all the necessary risks factors would mean a much smaller oil sands and Alberta would have way less people and problems.
And fine. Instead of Fort Mac decor lets talk about the billions of taxpayer dollars being spent to clean up industry mess in the oil patch. The list of socializing the losses is a long one. But you can call it whatever you want