[Lemmy]

Thanos Thanos:

Just a guess. You folks seem to be well ahead of the curve on cost-of-living increases and, aside from more subsidies to select voting blocs, the Liberals don't seem too concerned on the effect it has on the average taxpayer. Or about the way they've apparently managed to make practically everything a quarter/a third/a half more expensive over the last decade. Once again, how much longer can it go on with these big dreams of their when salaries for non-public sector workers aren't keeping up with inflating costs caused by their policies?

CPI(ON) 2006 = 108.8
CPI(ON) 2011 = 120.1
CPI(ON) 2015 = 127.4

127.4 - 108.8 = 18.6
18.6 / [(108.8 + 127.4)/2] = 18.6 / 118.1 = 0.157

0.157 / 10 years = 0.0157/year

So Ontario's inflation rate over the last decade has averaged 1.6% per year. The calculation for Alberta, btw, is 0.174, or in percent-difference terms, about 10.2% worse than Ontario.

[Thanos]

1) Alberta was also in runaway boom mode for close to a decade while Ontario was stagnant at best with all the business closures and outsourcing. That our inflation isn't much higher shows that even Stelmach and Redfraud weren't doing such a bad job fiscally.

2) What are your debt servicing costs these days? At $300 billion in debt I imagine there's a massive loss of taxpayer money that's basically wasted on interest payments alone.

[Lemmy]

Thanos Thanos:

1) Alberta was also in runaway boom mode for close to a decade while Ontario was stagnant at best with all the business closures and outsourcing. That our inflation isn't much higher shows that even Stelmach and Redfraud weren't doing such a bad job fiscally.

But that's a myth. Businesses aren't closing. Manufacturing has grown steadily in Ontario over the past decade. Jobs have been lost to robots, but manufacturing output continues to rise.

Thanos Thanos:

2) What are your debt servicing costs these days? At $300 billion in debt I imagine there's a massive loss of taxpayer money that's basically wasted on interest payments alone.

Interest rates are near zero. There's virtually no cost to servicing debt these days. Sure, it would be nice if the debt didn't exist, but it's not a problem so long as the interest rate remains low. In fact, as long as the interest rate is below the inflation rate, being in debt is a net money-maker. It's being eroded, in net terms, naturally without making a single payment against the principal.

[Thanos]

You're not going to erode sweet FA when it seems like Wynne announces a new multi billion dollar spending plan of some sort every month.

[ShepherdsDog]

Best line I've read so far when it comes to Ontario and its energy fiasco:

$1:

When Ontario Wynne's... we all lose!

[Lemmy]

Thanos Thanos:

You're not going to erode sweet FA when it seems like Wynne announces a new multi billion dollar spending plan of some sort every month.

How about we stick to facts instead of your perpetually pessimistic prognostications? Yesterday's announcement from Wynne was $87M in new trade deals with Israel.

[Thanos]

Lemmy Lemmy:

Thanos Thanos:

You're not going to erode sweet FA when it seems like Wynne announces a new multi billion dollar spending plan of some sort every month.

How about we stick to facts instead of your perpetually pessimistic prognostications? Yesterday's announcement from Wynne was $87M in new trade deals with Israel.

It's not pessimism. You're the economics guy here. How does cheerleading a few million worth of benefits here and there when the ramp up in spending billions proceeds apace? It's like blowing a hundred bucks on scratch-and-wins and being happy because you made $15 in free plays back.

[peck420]

Thanos Thanos:

It's not pessimism. You're the economics guy here. How does cheerleading a few million worth of benefits here and there when the ramp up in spending billions proceeds apace? It's like blowing a hundred bucks on scratch-and-wins and being happy because you made $15 in free plays back.

What is the maximum return on an investment of $0?

[N_Fiddledog]

$1:

Wynne’s climate strategy will drive millions into energy poverty


The document reportedly commits $7 billion in new spending initiatives over four years — the lion’s share of all the new money Wynne’s looming cap-and-trade law will take from Ontarians during that period, when it starts Jan. 1.

Among them, Wynne will double down on subsidizing electric car sales in a massive expansion of a failed government program that often sees average Ontarians subsidizing the car purchases of millionaires.

But the centrepiece of Wynne’s reported strategy is eliminating Ontario’s use of natural gas to heat the residential, office and commercial sectors, and to convert them to electrical heating, or solar and geo-thermal, which simply aren’t ready for prime time.

So basically, having sent electricity prices into the stratosphere with their green energy fiasco, the Liberals now want homeowners and businesses to abandon cheaper natural gas heat for expensive electrical heat.

Never mind that this would be an economic disaster, gutting the province’s economic growth for decades, since natural gas currently supplies about three quarters of Ontario’s heat.

It also won’t lower emissions.

More Here

[Lemmy]

Thanos Thanos:

It's not pessimism. You're the economics guy here. How does cheerleading a few million worth of benefits here and there when the ramp up in spending billions proceeds apace? It's like blowing a hundred bucks on scratch-and-wins and being happy because you made $15 in free plays back.

I'm not saying I like the government's spending. I'm a fiscal conservative so it makes me, philosophically, uncomfortable. But you're equating government debt with personal debt. That's flawed logic because they're not the same animal. You're screaming that the house is on fire but, objectively speaking, things just aren't that bad economically speaking. If carrying some debt is the price for the standard of living we enjoy, then it's an acceptable risk. You should wait for the sky to actually start falling before you go off your head worrying about it.

[OnTheIce]

Lemmy Lemmy:

Thanos Thanos:

You're not going to erode sweet FA when it seems like Wynne announces a new multi billion dollar spending plan of some sort every month.

How about we stick to facts instead of your perpetually pessimistic prognostications? Yesterday's announcement from Wynne was $87M in new trade deals with Israel.

We're celebrating an 87 million trade deal? Really? Do you get excited when you find a quarter in the couch....because that's the equivalent here.

[Lemmy]

Good news is good news even if it's small good news, isn't it?

[OnTheIce]

Lemmy Lemmy:

Good news is good news even if it's small good news, isn't it?

Farting and not shitting my pants is about as good news as this "trade deal".

[Lemmy]

I expect it'd be a nice departure from the usual result for you.