Does Sesame Street Actually *Need* Government Funding

[Dewey_Finn]

FYI, this Wikipedia chart 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.

[Leaffan]

From here:

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.