Quote:
Originally Posted by Jacks
Up until a few years ago whenever the subject of ballooning debt was brought up around here the regular posters would say that now is the time to "invest" since interest rates are so low. Who would have guessed that if you never plan to pay back that money that interest rates will eventually go back up?
Trudeau: “We have always exercised fiscal restraint.”
Got to give him credit for being able to say that with a straight face.
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Motivated reasoning. If you’re running up huge budget deficits in an extremely low interest rate environment, you’re going to convince yourself that interest rates are going to stay rock-bottom forever. And voters have to share some of the blame. It’s not as though we say no to the goodies that governments bribe us with. When people are routinely taking out 7 year loans for new cars, you know cultural anxiety around debt has pretty much vanished. It will be interesting see what a few years of prime rates higher than 5 per cent will do to attitudes around debt.