The Cacique cicada, having spent lavishly, found itself very destitute when the crisis came. The Keynesian ant then lectured him: “What did you do in the time of abundance, did you spend? Well, suffer now. »
The Minister of Finance, Eric Girard, presented us with a budget which projects a distant return to budgetary balance. Contrary to sound management of public affairs, the Legault government played petty politics by distributing electoral gifts instead of garnering surpluses which would have been very useful currently.
Indeed, having benefited from the Liberals’ austerity policies which had disastrous effects on a vulnerable population, the CAQ used the surpluses generated by these cuts to play Santa Claus. The great economist John Maynard Keynes would have suggested that they instead keep this money to remedy the lack of income resulting from an unfavorable economic cycle, like the one we are experiencing today.
As we know, the economy experiences cyclical variations. Although the latter are less apparent today, we know that periods of slowdowns (recessions) occur following periods of expansion. It is, among other things, with the budgetary tool that Keynes proposes to intervene to stimulate the economy during periods of economic slowdown. It does so from surpluses accumulated during periods of economic growth.
But Legault squandered these surpluses when the economy was growing. As a result, the kitty is now empty at a time when the government should be providing support in a downward phase of the cycle. This lack of resources forces the Minister of Finance to reduce his spending and increase his revenues, all in a budgetary year with a large deficit.
Instead of behaving like a cicada, the latter should have followed the advice of the far-sighted ant. But the only foresight that our governments know too often is to ensure their re-election. And if they lose power, the new elected government will have no choice but to turn into an ant…
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