Fiscal Policy Trends: Who will pay the interest on Alberta’s public debt?
William Lyon Mackenzie King, Canada’s 10th Prime Minister, used to say “Today’s promises are tomorrow’s taxes”. A more up-to-date version would be “Today’s deficits are tomorrow’s taxes.” Alberta’s governments began running deficits in 2008-09 and the NDP government only plans to balance the prov...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Calgary
2018-05-01
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| Series: | The School of Public Policy Publications |
| Online Access: | http://www.policyschool.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Fiscal-Trends-AB-Public-Debt-Bazel-Crisan-Dahlby.pdf |
| Summary: | William Lyon Mackenzie King, Canada’s 10th Prime Minister, used to say “Today’s promises are tomorrow’s taxes”. A more up-to-date version would be “Today’s deficits are tomorrow’s taxes.”
Alberta’s governments began running deficits in 2008-09 and the NDP government only plans to balance the provincial budget in five years’ time. By then, Alberta’s public debt will have risen to about $90 billion with annual interest payments of $3.8 billion in 2023-24.1 Who will pay the taxes to pay the interest on Alberta’s public debt? — Future taxpayers. |
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| ISSN: | 2560-8312 2560-8320 |