With all the talk about the stimulus package this week, I thought it might be useful to review some basic concepts of government intervention in the economy.
First off, government spending programs are frequently wasteful – Canadian broadcasting, for instance, is all publicly funded:
Second, handout programs may seem helpful to some people, but may have different consequences for others:
Finally, it’s nice to have outside-the-box thinking when dealing with problems, but eventually the bills will come due:
Jim Eltringham 