There are no upcoming events right now.
Why not post one?
Recent Articles
- Justice for Indigenous Peoples is Long Overdueby Ryan McGreal, published June 30, 2021 in Commentary
(0 comments)
- Third-Party Election Advertising Ban About Silencing Workersby Chantal Mancini, published June 29, 2021 in Politics
(0 comments)
- Did Doug Ford Test the 'Great Barrington Declaration' on Ontarians?by Ryan McGreal, published June 29, 2021 in Special Report: COVID-19
(1 comment)
- An Update on Raise the Hammerby Ryan McGreal, published June 28, 2021 in Site Notes
(0 comments)
- Nestlé Selling North American Water Bottling to an Private Equity Firmby Doreen Nicoll, published February 23, 2021 in Healing Gaia
(0 comments)
- Jolley Old Sam Lawrenceby Sean Burak, published February 19, 2021 in Special Report: Cycling
(0 comments)
- Right-Wing Extremism is a Driving Force in Modern Conservatismby Ryan McGreal, published February 18, 2021 in Special Report: Extremism
(0 comments)
- Municipalities Need to Unite against Ford's Firehose of Land Use Changesby Michelle Silverton, published February 16, 2021 in Special Report
(0 comments)
- Challenging Doug Ford's Pandemic Narrativeby Ryan McGreal, published January 25, 2021 in Special Report: COVID-19
(1 comment)
- The Year 2020 Has Been a Wakeup Callby Michael Nabert, published December 31, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(0 comments)
- The COVID-19 Marshmallow Experimentby Ryan McGreal, published December 22, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(0 comments)
- All I Want for Christmas, 2020by Kevin Somers, published December 21, 2020 in Entertainment and Sports
(1 comment)
- Hamilton Shelters Remarkably COVID-19 Free Thanks to Innovative Testing Programby Jason Allen, published December 21, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(0 comments)
- Province Rams Through Glass Factory in Stratfordby Doreen Nicoll, published December 21, 2020 in Healing Gaia
(0 comments)
- We Can Prevent Traffic Deaths if We Make Safety a Real Priorityby Ryan McGreal, published December 08, 2020 in Special Report: Walkable Streets
(5 comments)
- These Aren't 'Accidents', These Are Resultsby Tom Flood, published December 04, 2020 in Special Report: Walkable Streets
(1 comment)
- Conservation Conundrumby Paul Weinberg, published December 04, 2020 in Special Report
(0 comments)
- Defund Police Protest Threatens Fragile Ruling Classby Cameron Kroetsch, published December 03, 2020 in Special Report: Anti-Racism
(2 comments)
- Measuring the Potential of Biogas to Reduce GHG Emissionsby John Loukidelis and Thomas Cassidy, published November 23, 2020 in Special Report: Climate Change
(0 comments)
- Ontario Squanders Early Pandemic Sacrificeby Ryan McGreal, published November 18, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(0 comments)
Article Archives
Blog Archives
Site Tools
Feeds
By A Smith (anonymous) | Posted March 21, 2011 at 00:37:17 in reply to Comment 61199
>> We have more technology, fancier corporate power structures, and many more billionaires. 80% of us, though, aren't making any more in real terms. Why?
If you want to go back to the "middle class" years (1946-1969) that Obama talks about, keep in mind that military spending was around 10-12% of GDP (U.S), there were no deficits and non military spending averaged around 17% a year. That means that for every dollar paid in taxes, the average American only got back 60 cents in social services.
In contrast, in the third quarter of 2010, non military spending (primarily entitlements) in the U.S. was 32% of GDP, while tax revenues were only 27%. That means the for every dollar paid in taxes, people got $1.18 in social services.
From 1946-1970, Canada's military spending averaged 4% of GDP and deficits were small.
Today, military spending is low, 1.3% of GDP and yet the federal deficit is 3% of GDP and the Ontario deficit is 3% of GDP.
Imagine if Harper told Canadians he was going to go back to post WWII spending trends. He would need to cut $55B in spending (current deficit), plus take an additional 2.7% of GDP, or $43B from current spending and move it to the military. That's $2,882 less per person in Old Age security, health, education.
But that's not it, McGuinty would have to run a balanced budget as well (debt in Ontario was only 13% of GDP in the late eighties, compared to 37% today). That means cutting $20B from current spending, or $1,500 per person.
In other words, in order to go back to the type of government we had in the 50's-60's, when the economy was strong, $4,300 would need to be cut from social benefits per person, given current tax levels. To understand this number, public health care spending in Canada for 2007 was around $2,700 per person.
If you added that $4,300 per person figure to the average Hamilton household, which according to the 2006 Census was 2.5 people, that works out to an additional $10,750 in non cash, after tax benefits.
The median annual payments for a dwelling in Hamilton for 2006 was $11,748. That means that the current non cash benefits that we now receive due to our expanded welfare state, almost equals what it costs to own a home.
The question becomes, do we want a welfare state, or do we want a fast growing economy?
Permalink | Context