Comment 123124

By KevinLove (registered) | Posted June 24, 2018 at 12:21:39 in reply to Comment 123123

...should govt spending be analyzed for return on investment? And if not, why not?

Kevin's answer: Sometimes yes, sometimes no. It depends upon the goals that the government is trying to achieve. For example, consider National Defence. It is difficult to quantify the goals achieved to determine if they are worth the spending.

However, it is my opinion that victory in WWII was worth every dollar and drop of blood spent. In a similar way, my own personal military service was during the Cold War. To have the Fall of the Berlin Wall and the overthrow of European communist tyranny without WWIII was also worth every dollar spent.

On the other hand, it is my opinion that spending well over $30 billion with numerous casualties in Afghanistan provided a return upon this investment that was not worth while. Other people may have different opinions.

Some government operations are amenable to financial cost/benefit analysis. For example, the GTHA Medical Officers of Health produced a report showing that motor vehicle operators poison and kill over 712 people every year in the GTHA, with associated costs of over $4.6 billion. See page 20 of above link. There are, of course, other enormous costs motor vehicle operators impose upon everyone else.

So on a cost/benefit basis, it is worth spending rather a lot in order to progressively reduce and eliminate motor vehicle use in Ontario. One specific project, Metrolinx's "Big Move," is extensively analysed in the above link.

Comment edited by KevinLove on 2018-06-24 13:11:19

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