Fiscal & Debt

The numbers behind the headline figures: what the debt, the growth fund, and the budget promises actually add up to.

Economy · Paper Architecture Income Inequality in Canada Is at Record Levels. Redistribution Can’t Keep Up With the System That Continues to Worsen It. Canada’s wealth-building tax tools disproportionately benefit upper-income households. The transfer programs haven’t prevented the income gap from hitting consecutive records. Economy · The Gap Carney Calls It 'Record Investment.' The Data Shows Leveraged Buying of Government Debt. The Bank of Canada Calls the Leverage a Systemic Risk. Nearly half the FDI was buyouts. Bond issuance surged as the deficit nearly doubled. Hedge funds bought up to half at auction using short-term repo borrowing. Economy · Paper Architecture Carney Said Norway. The Canada Strong Fund Resembles the UK Fund He Helped Shape — Which Lost £152 Million Last Year. Carney compared the Canada Strong Fund to Norway. Its announced design resembles the UK fund he helped shape — which lost £152 million last year. Economy · The Gap CPP’s CEO Cited a Canadian "Opportunity Deficit." The Investment Data Says the Weakness Is Broader. CPP holds 12% of its assets in Canada and its chief executive reportedly attributed the low domestic share to a shortage of opportunities. A decade of investment data shows the weakness is real, broad-based, and worst in the capital that raises productivity. Economy The $96.8 Billion Headline FDI at C$96.8B matches 2007 levels. But the economy underneath is completely different. Economic Canada's Lost Decade GDP per capita, productivity, and business investment — ten years of structural decline in official data. Fiscal Policy Canada's Debt Debate Is Two Different Debates The sustainability argument and the productivity argument are two different claims. The public debate conflates them. Economy BoC Checkmate The Bank of Canada can’t cut without reigniting inflation and can’t hold without deepening the recession. Every tool has a cost attached. Energy · Single Point Investor, Buyer, Financier: One Public Fund Holds All Three Roles in Carbon Capture The Canada Growth Fund invested in operator Entropy, contracted to buy its carbon credits, and separately committed up to $1 billion to developer Strathcona. Three documented roles across one small industry. Provincial The Budget Promise Gap Four provinces significantly missed their own fiscal targets. Two Conservative, two not. Fiscal · Deep Dive The CPP Debt Illusion Canada’s “lowest debt in the G7” depends on counting $780B in pension assets Ottawa cannot use. Governance & Fiscal · Capstone Where Did the Money Go? Federal spending grew by hundreds of billions. GDP per capita hasn't moved since 2017. The PBO says $94B doesn't qualify. Defence Arctic Defence Fiscal Capacity Canada’s Arctic sovereignty commitments measured against the procurement timelines and fiscal capacity to deliver them.
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