Newfoundland and Labrador is one of the very few countries on the planet that got itself into such a financial mess that it gave up self-government. The people gave up their right and power to govern themselves. That is, they gave up their sovereignty. They took it back in 1949,
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The Sir Robert Bond Papers: Updating the Alternative Spending Plan #nlpoli
In April 2013, SRBP ran a series of posts about public spending. The goal was to show how the government could have avoided its serious financial problems by having a financial policy more sophisticated than “spend it all.” A couple of very dr…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Enough #nlpoli
You can easily lose track of the number of former cabinets who will tell you the same thing.Ask them about the one lesson of government and budgets that stands in their minds. They’ll likely all tell you some version of the same thing.There is …
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Budget basics: Dealing with the Debt #nlpoli
Public sector pensions in Newfoundland and Labrador are underfunded. There’s not enough money in the fund account to cover all the likely money they’d have to pay out to people when they retire. But make no mistake, the province’s public sector pensioners are not in any real danger of losing
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Budget Basics: Unfunded Pension and Benefits Liabilities #nlpoli
While the provincial budget for 2014 was all about spending government money, the budget speech did raise one issue that the provincial government appears intent on cutting dramatically. A key component of the province’s net debt relates to unfunded pension and other post-retirement liabilities. Despite an investment of more than
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Budget basics: debt #nlpoli
Board of trade president Sharon Horan wrote in her Telegram column last weekend that the unfunded pension liability will make up 85% of the provincial government’s debt not to long into the future. That will be up from the 75% of the public debt it makes today. There you have
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: The Whizzo Quality Assortment #nlpoli
On the outside, the spring budget for 2014 looks like a delicious assortment of goodies for everyone. You can tell it is delectable because everyone is shouting for joy and drooling over their good fortune. There is not a single group who have had their hands out for government money
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Debt, Demand, and Delusions #nlpoli
The Conservatives running the province got together with their staff and key supporters this weekend to reaffirm their conviction that they alone ought to be running the province. Some people seem to think it’s remarkable that they stand together behind Kathy Dunderdale and her supposed wonderful charm, despite what the
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Political Will and Public Policy #nlpoli
The SIDI simulation of government spending that we’ve run this past week might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but these sort of thought exercises are always useful. The most striking thing is the amount of money from oil and mining that the provincial government has spent in the past
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Well on the way to Debt Freedom #nlpoli
According to economist-consultant Wade Locke, the provincial government’s “Sustainability” Plan includes a debt commitment: The long-run target is to bring the province’s net per capita debt gradually down to the all-province level within ten years. Locke made it clear in another part of his March 25 memo to finance minister
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Responsible Public Spending #nlpoli
You don’t need drugs or alcohol to get the feeling of dizziness or stupor like you smacked your head with a hammer. Hard. Repeatedly. Just listen to a representative of one of the special interest groups talking about the provincial budget and public spending. It doesn’t matter which one. As
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: The Road Not Taken #nlpoli
The number is a hard one to wrap your mind around. $15.6 billion. That’s the amount of oil royalties and mining royalties the provincial government collected from 2005 to 2012. Once you think you have that figure in your mind and understand what it means, think about this: with the
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