Canada's advantage

Canada's advantage:
As Canada's experience in the 1990s showed, the path to economic growth lies in shrinking government, not growing it

Niels Veldhuis And Jason Clemens, Financial Post

Published: Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Most Canadians are unfortunately not aware of Canada's 15-year track record of reducing the size of government (1992-2007). Since peaking in 1992, the size of government in Canada--best measured by total spending at all levels of government as a share of gross domestic product -- has decreased from 53% to less than 40%, according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. This is a dramatic departure from the 1960s, '70s and '80s, when Canada leaned towards ever bigger government.

Equally important is the gap between Canada and the United States. In 1992, Canadian governments consumed 36% more of the economy than their counterparts in the United States. By 2008, the gap had decreased to just 3%. Indeed, given President Obama's recent budget, Canada will likely have a smaller government than the United States within the next few years.