Category Tax policy
Taxing the rich: “Part of this complete breakfast”
The 'starve the beast' strategy works like this: Cut taxes. Observe that cutting taxes has produced a government deficit. Cut spending to reduce the deficit. This idea is apparently American in origin, but the US never has quite managed to get the hang of it; they keep getting bogged down at Step 2. The federal […]
How OECD governments generate tax revenues
I did a post last year documenting the choices OECD countries have made when it comes to tax rates – you might want to take a look at it before continuing. I'll wait here. Okay, welcome back. Given the recent attention ([1],[2],[3]) given to the link between tax rates and tax revenues, this post is […]
The impact of tax cuts on government revenues
An average person, asked to explain the impact of cutting taxes, might well reason: I have represented this argument in flow chart form to give it a spurious air of logical coherence. Yet any flow chart is only as good as the reasoning that underlies it. In this case, that reasoning is seriously incomplete.
Provincial Finances: An Estimate of “Tax Prices”
My previous post dealt with differences in provincial health spending and how on a per capita basis some provinces were substantially above the provincial average while others were not. One of the factors behind any government spending at the provincial level is own source revenue capacity so in light of some of the comments asking […]
The case for taxing basic groceries
Economists frequently argue that taxing basic groceries is a good idea – for example, see these papers/posts making the case for taxing food in the US, Canada, and New Zealand.
Ontario’s 2012 Budget: Bending the Spending Curve
Well the Ontario budget is out and despite all the talk of 30 percent across-the-board budget cutting in the wake of the Drummond Report, it forecasts more a deceleration of spending growth rather than steep cuts.
Who is More Fiscally Sustainable: Ottawa or Queen’s Park?
Both the Federal and Ontario budgets are nearly upon us and the key watchword for both is going to be the sustainability of the public finances.
How much new revenue will be generated by an increase in federal corporate taxes?
It's budget season, and there's a federal deficit to worry about. The government wants to cut spending, and the opposition parties want to increase taxes on high earners as well as corporate income taxes (CIT) instead. (No-one wants to increase the GST.) In a recent Economy Lab post, I went through the arithmetic of calculating […]
When D-Day Comes, Then What?
On Wednesday, we shall see the unveiling of Don Drummond’s recommendations for the repairing of Ontario’s finances. Quite frankly, I was a little surprised that Drummond Day was not set for February 14th and advertised as a set of tough love policies to highlight the uncompromising bond between Ontario’s leaders and its people but I […]
The basic arithmetic of RRSPs and TFSAs
Financial advisors seem to be everywhere this time of year, pontificating about the merits of Registered Retirement Savings Accounts (RRSPs) and Tax Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs). I'm not a financial advisor, but I know a bit about how the tax system works, and can do some basic arithmetic.
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