What the leaders need to understand about Canada's shifting economy - Huffington Post

As Canadians are becoming all too aware, the spectre of a recession, no matter the definition, looms large during an election campaign. Despite such prominence, the recent debate made it abundantly clear that none of the candidates understand why the economy stopped growing in the first half of the year and they have even less of an idea of how to foster future growth.

Liberal leader Justin Trudeau's opponents may call his Keynesian plans to run $10-billion deficits for the next few years reckless, but how much difference can they really make to an economy that's now pushing two trillion dollars? It's an amount that's neither large enough to stimulate economic growth, nor does it add a worrisomely meaningful addition to the national debt. Prime Minister Stephen Harper's plan to run a balanced budget carries the trappings of prudence, but it does little to either recognize or rectify the issues behind the country's stalled economy. The NDP's Thomas Mulcair, meanwhile, is pledging to raise corporate taxes in a bid to finance increases to program spending. That's laudable from a distributional standpoint, but without a stronger economy where will the profits come from to provide the tax revenue he's seeking?

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