Raise the Hammer

Wow, great discussion going on today. Hammer's very insightful stats, A Smith's too. Once folks get beyond the all-or-nothing black-white philosophical arguments, the picture gets clearer- but more complex!

Seancb's idea, also discussed by Meister/Robert deserves study. I tried to get into it on my blog but short version, given the need for maintenance/storage overhead, the minimum cost to start something might be 1-200 million??? Mac to downtown??

Fixing pipes/roads = the competition. nobrainer, mrjanitor are onto this, pointing out that Mississauga are starting to feel the pinch. Good point. We gotta get nuanced here. There are many reasons for high taxes (wages per A Smith, public sector unions, fair wage contracting (i think?), contracting out?, social burden, education[50%], downloading, etc. and yes, sprawl too). Not to mention serious gotta-fix-it-now flooding problems, and brownfield problems. There are old pipes and there are really really old pipes. If my guess as to the economy is correct and oil does what many suspect, cities may well begin to shrink anyway. Won't be pretty but Hammer's data is compelling. And, in my mind anyway, the picture made by PIIGS is also compelling and will sink any ill timed ventures, even in Canada. We need to have a discussion of debt, our responsibility to our children, our responsibility to be responsible for our own salvation (ie without the upper tier) per my Moosonee question earlier.

Hey, if we can borrow the billion from China at 2% on fixed rate for 40 year bonds, maybe I'll change my mind, hoping that we can pay them off with inflated fiat dollar crap. In the meantime though, interest on a billion at 2% (if you can get that rate) is $20 million per year. I'd like to ask a poverty activist if they are ok with that. Maybe pxtl doesn't like conservatives but in a few years, i think folks will appreciate a little caution at this time.