I have no idea why they're rushing this $3b fund in. However, I'll reiterate that the GST cuts ... which everyone complained about because it stimulated spending rather than increased spending ... ended up being exactly what the economy needed. Canada was far ahead of other G# countries in this regards, despite the wide complaints the opposition and most (all, really) newspapers.

It is a bit odd. Like so many things - but apparently in breach of the blogger's code - I am not strongly clear on what should be done. I am in favour, however, of spending on stuff. GST does not help the hardest hit town. It also does not advance the economy as can be done. If we are going to regret this era of spending it would be best to regret a bridge or a sewer upgrade than the funding of flag waving or seafood festivals. Then again, maybe it should be given to festivals as long as they have accurate representations of uncomfortable moments in history.

But are you not shifting the goalposts here? There are three different and mostly independent things here:

* stimulating the economy
* building/rebuilding infrastructure
* helping the hardest hit town (/people I assume)

The are arguments that #2 may be worthwhile stimulus, but GST cuts do not exclude that.

I'm not sure what the argument of helping the hardest hit town is _as a form of stimulus_. It probably isn't.

I don't think I can be accused of shifting a goalpost when I have admitted above that I do not know where they are in the first place. The upside of GST at 2% is immediacy and lack of administrative costs. But stimulus should also admit some suffer more than others. Does the City of Ottawa need stimulus? Conversely, should out port Newfoundland or a mining town where the mine has been cleaned out?

But I don't think that rebuilding infrastructure is independent of stimulus. That is your argument to make before you challenge those that disagree. Locally, we have had about 1 to maybe even 1.5 billion dollars worth of large scale construction work in this area over 2005 to 2010. That is a lot of grocery bills and mortgages being paid.

I don't think stimilus should admit any such thing - that's just piggybacking projects. Now, I'm not saying these projects are not worthwhile, but the point of stimulus is entirely macro: that is, getting back to a normally functioning economy.

On a somewhat related topic, I'm having a hard time seeing any effects of a recession in my life: there's no deals on flights, hotels, there's no decent end of season skiing gear sales. You'd thinks would get cheaper if there was a lack of demand. In the US, there's tons of deals on everything.

I am not clear on your first point yet but agree on the second. I see that stimulus is micro in that each person has to get confidence to start spending. But agree that we may not be seeing a critical lack of spending in Canada though, admittedly, I live in a lucky town. I do see in the US from trips and even Amazon.com versus Amazon.ca that down south there is no capacity in huge areas of the economy and geographically to even start spending if there was confidence. I might have to go find my copy of John Kenneth Galbraith's book Money to assist me.

I think the problem in the States is that they've been living on stimulus for the last decade; stimulus based on borrowing and especially borrowing against a bubble. Unfortunately for them, that had to top out somewhere - and pay back.

"Fortunately" for them, the government has decided to continue to do the borrowing for them!

Re the distinct society of PEI: "plus ca change, plus c'est le meme chose."

Re: weather. I saw geese three days ago. I knew what was coming and said so to my kids. It being -15 at teh time they just glared at me with that "another of Dad's empty promises yet again" look in the rear view mirror.

That being said, still in the weather vein, I may be heading to Comox for a few days, which normally would be a nice warm break, but no, same weather forcast as we have.. harrumph.

Re: re-enactment cancellation: "Cowards" is correct if not a tad light of a term to use.

David: excellent point. In the defense of the government there is a big difference between the interest rates that they pay and what's on a credit card as well as their ability to cancel payments on loonie investment boondoggles like credit default swaps and what we are learning private bankers would do.

Never let anyone say that things should be "run as a business" pass again without testing whether the speaker is implying a virtue or a vice.

My blog is shovel-ready....send, say, 500,000 and I promise to blog until Doomsday - assuming the Jackal lasts that long.

Meanwhile...It makes total sense to spend the stimulus ASAP. I doubt the stimulus will work but it is pointless to spend it over the next three years.

It would make a great deal of sense to simply increase the GST rebate to obscene levels so that poor people - who get the rebate, could buy crazy things like food, clothes, second hand computers, bus passes and such like. They, in turn, would pay us back by being less poor. (Of course, a certain amount of "beer and popcorn" would accompany such a plan - in fact, some of the poor might just go "Indian" as they say on Welfare Wednesday in the cab business - but it simply does not matter. Far better than to have the money spent by chaps who call the corporate jet to pick up their dry cleaning.

It is nice to have banks.

The GST rebate is beer and popcorn money but that is a good point. Reducing the GST would not be as good as increasing the GST rebate.

It's not beer and popcorn money when it's added up in aggregate.

I disagree with increasing the GST rebate, under general principles, because I think it's good that everyone be affected by taxation.