# Does Sesame Street Actually \*Need\* Government Funding **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 5, 2012, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-sesame-street-actually-need-government-funding/636859 "2012-10-05T23:01:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-sesame-street-actually-need-government-funding/636859/81 "2012-10-11T23:03:56Z")
FYI, [this Wikipedia chart](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_by_public_debt) lists US public debt at 102.94% of GDP versus 84.95% for Canada. Before you feel too smug about the lower percentage of Canadian debt, look at the rest of the list. Spain (which I don’t think anyone thinks has a healthy economy) is at 68.47%. And note that American debt is issued in American dollars, while some other countries have to issue debt in a currency not their own. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-sesame-street-actually-need-government-funding/636859/82 "2012-10-11T23:07:04Z")
From [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Martin): > [@](#): > > In his debut as finance minister, Martin made huge budget cuts that almost ground economic growth to a halt, scaling down government to 1951 levels. In the period from 1994–1996, when these cuts were made, economic growth was reduced by 3.5 percentage points, according to a study by CIBC-Wood Gundy. The resulting loss in tax revenue almost eliminated the savings made by the cuts but crucially rebalanced the economy away from the public sector towards the private sector. I can provide links for tax increases too if you want. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-sesame-street-actually-need-government-funding/636859.md?page=4)