g ptboeseyers t Chik ge mone wrme oe oce age gee , system is _this means, for example, that a 10 percent increase in ‘income --will produce. more : than a 10 percent: increase. ine thana 10 percent. increase in » tax revenue, on. the principle ae that the more you make, the | more, -proportionately, . you _pay..With. strong economic _ growth, increases, on health > > er > ae a rel climate within which govern- ments could raise a large “part of the money needed to pay for the new programs. In - other words, as wage. and — ‘salary grew, governments to rake off. tax earners’ | revenues. The. Canadian income | tax **progressive’”’ and ‘rapid price But ¢ even this rapid growth in tax. revenues was not. enough to pay for the new ‘programs and the rising bills for wages and administrative | expenses; by . 1976, Canada _was the largest borrower in the world, and the largest- borrower in- Canada was ' government. Today, Ottawa spends. most of the money it collects borrowed. Without - asubd —- was Saaw . VWaies unemployed are better off - . teday ¢ tan they have been ix the pasi. Bui this is nat te say “that they are better off than ‘they could be with smaller outiays and more efficient J management . SLOWER GROWTH Many thoughtful Cana- dians have begun to worry that the growth of govern- ment spending has played a major role in the inflation and unemployment problems this country has experienced in the last several years. The .. * bulk of the programs in- volved, particularly the social welfare programs, have laudable objectives. But the overall package is’ now adding up to more than the country can sustain. ; The duced when the economy was producing more goods and services each year than it ~ had in the previous one... usually 5 percent more, occasionally 6 or 7 percent more. But since the middle of 1974, the economy has been growing much more slowly. It took two full years...from mid-1974 to mid-1976 to accomplish what we used to accomplish in one...produce 5 percent more goods. Part of the problem is that the programs are universal and thus, redistribute money back to the middle class, who then pay taxes on the money received. Part of the problem is that some of the programs are vulnerable to inflation. They are automatically indexed to the inflation rate and therefore automatically cost more as consumer prices rise. Part of the problem is that government spending itself can be inflationary... and in fact has been i in recent years. When the economy is not working at its full capacity, the country can afford an expansion in overall demand eve ‘incomes _ ‘it’ was. easier for _ government | - _.. revenues ballooned through . the late 1960’s. and early © ~ 1970's" despite. the. fact that 7 federal tax rates. were ‘cut. and | welfare, 7 - national defense, and paying imterTest on the money. & has . — bic cen wm TE A REN EE spending ‘does .. not They. mean | “that 1 many of the. “programs. now in place . “may. well. have. to: taxpayers | who not only don’t" need the: money, ‘but have. to- ‘pay tax on it. And ‘they ‘mean - politicians are going to have to explain their decisions to 7 a _ the. public: before they are — ~ enacted. Not long - ago, an Ontario ‘government | task biggest 1 resistance came from ‘ the ‘public’: servants “whose ‘jobs were involved, ‘not from — the public whose. services a _ would be affected. It is, after. ali, which _ governments - income. with former Pert “aes @ie wee RMirs. | Cohan-a Sm oe, vuster si fre avec evans SSRRES. ela. erat, George Williams Universities - 7 —onerates her ovin economic. F She is a syndicated columnist in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa contributing editor of Finan- Money. and a Canadian. correspondent for Newsweek your BRAKE and SHOCK STOP NORTH AMERICAN. EUROPEAN : a JAPANESE 1350 MARINE DRIVE NORTH VAN. 986-1161 meaaalleonmes that still our 2 ‘provides a their Many - Canadians Bees “have reached the conclusion een AL, say how it should be spent. _ accomplishment if -we..can ‘prevent them from going up. ‘The credit union . -move- . ment emerged as a financial “be power-house | ‘overhauled: i it simply. doesn’ t make sense to have universal mee ‘programs. paying out ‘tax- payers’. money. to. other in ‘British Columbia during. ‘the - ‘seven. years in which George May ‘ran British Columbia Central ‘Credit Union. The ambitious _ 38-year-old) May has now taken over as chief. executive — officer of the ‘Canadian Co- .. operative . Credit. Society, wih the aim of revving up” that. the whole country would be better off if the individ-. _ uals .who- make ‘the money » force ‘recommended govern- | . ment. ‘spending . ‘cuts... The. havea greater opportunity to | lt may. be too much to hope for our deductions “to go° down. But it will -be’a major the. movement ‘nationally to “have. far more. .- financial influence than it> has’ now, © The Financial Post! John Schreiner: reports in Site ae tie: ae More - than ‘eight. million oho Canadians . are members of. ~One- indicator: “the” ‘now-. . credit mions, ewhich have liquid “credit: union ‘system assets of m more than” S15 will require $1 billion capital 7 billion. eee | ) HITACHI a "Model CT-932 °° 0 -20"" Color Solid-State Tv #120-1425 Marine Dr. West Vancouver. 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