Quote:
Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
Given the demographic trajectory we’re on, we’re not going to be able to maintain our current levels of public spending on things like health care and seniors facilities, let alone take on the enormous costs of buying up private facilities.
I’m not sure people really understand the oncoming demographic crisis every developed nation is facing. The worsening dependency ratio means governments are going to have to impose some combination of substantially increased taxes on younger workers, and measures like increasing the age of pension eligibility, means-testing for OAS, etc. to avoid a debt crisis. And since this is a problem electorates around the world remain in denial about, the rest of us are probably going to have to watch a major country like France suffer humiliating concessions imposed by a EU or IMF bailout before we willingly adopt painful measures to head off our own debt crisis.
This is why I shake my head at proposals to substantially expand public spending on things like seniors’ care. It’s like a ship’s passengers calling on the captain to increase speed while the lower decks are flooding under their feet.
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This is why the governments needs more profit centres and not just expenses. If the governments had income beyond just taxes then they would have opportunities to be more dynamic with their services.
City profit centre opportunities:
- Home building
- Realty/Realtors - The city could move into the market of supporting the purchasing and selling of houses and use technology to eliminate the legacy industry
- Commercial/retail building (under condos)
- Part ownership of the new arena - I know the ship has sailed here but the city should have taken a percentage of the revenues in exchange for the land and $$ investment
- Other??
Provincial profit centre opportunities:
- Senior's homes (within AHS) - provide exceptional service and a lower cost than the private home but do not make it free, the residents still need to pay
- Public Insurance (Auto) - If the UCP are moving to 'no fault' anyway, we may as well copy BC and move auto insurance to the public sector
- Other??
If our governments start operating more in these ways then it will start to become expected that they will behave in these ways when new opportunities come up. For example, if the city was already a land developer then when the arena conversation started the city would simply say "cool, we'll develop the land ourselves and rent it to you for your events".