David Dodge on deficits:
http://www.cp24.com/news/don-t-fret-so-much-about-deficits-dodge-advises-1.1862883
Note - this is NOT an endorsement for dramatic expansions of spending in all areas.
AoD
Debt/deficits (either in government or personal levels) are neither inherently evil nor are they inherently good. It is contextual and situational.
A young individual/family starting their asset building stage of life can be excused for taking on debt to buy assets (home, investments, whatever) to build something with the recognition that their income levels are going to increase over time and that managing that debt, and eventually retiring that debt are realistic possibilities. Without realizing it they are actually just performing a discounted cash flow model on their future earnings and using those future earnings to buy something today.
As people mature through their lives, though, the focus should shift to retiring debt as at some point your income potential peaks and then will (in the vast majority of cases) decline into your retirement years.
Similarly, governments that can run deficits/take on debt at appropriate times to stimulate economies, spur growth and generate future income that exceeds the present value of the debt they are taking on. At some point, though, you have reign it in and grow debt slower or, even better, retire debt so that the next time you need that stimulus funding to take place there is the fiscal room to do so.
I think the key comment/remark in that Dodge piece is this:
The aim should not be to get deficits to zero as quickly as possible, but to reduce deficits to below nominal growth in the economy so that deficits become an ever-decreasing share of gross domestic product, he says.
That is not what is happening in Ontario.....our debt is growing (through accumulated deficits) faster than our economy is growing.
