The Current Economic Morass - Could it be avoided? - Part 1

Yes and No is the easy answer.  Let's take the No first.

Taxes, as we know them, were first imposed in the early 20th century to fund the government during the First World War.  They were supposed to be a temporary measure but, as with most thing government touches, temporary become permanent.  Take for example the temporary building erected for National Defense in 1939 near the Parliament Building.  At the time, C.D Howe, stated that, "two years after the War nobody would know the temporary buildings had existed".  Take a walk up by the Supreme Court if you want to see the temporary building today.

Back to taxes.  When government gets money, they spend money.  Some would say it is their job while others say that it is their obsession.  Spending money is like a drug for some, not just government, so I lean towards obsession.  If government wanted to avoid this economic morass, one thing they could have done was spend less.  Do we really need to be dropping million dollar bombs in Libya?  Do we really need to subsidize the Oil Sands to the tune of $2 billion per year?

But there is another side to taxes and that is the collection of them to feed the obsession.  It is estimated that the Canadian tax code, with regulations, contains over 2 million words.  Compare that to the bible with just over 774,000 words.  It takes scholars a lifetime to memorize the bible.  What does that say for us mortal taxpayers?  Get rid of the loopholes and flatten the tax to a single rate, please.

In Part 2 we will explore other issues affecting the Current Economic Morass.