stimulus spending

The Liberals justify deficits by stressing long-term aims, rather than short-term stimulus

Conservatism is not just dead but, it appears, forgotten

The main focus of the build-up to this week’s federal budget is not what’s coming next but what’s coming to an end. The government vows to deliver no significant new spending, so the 2010 budget Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is slated to table on Thursday must, by default, draw attention to the winding down of the two-year stimulus spending spree he launched last year.

This week’s issue of Maclean’s features a story about how the aftermath of the recession is likely to play out in a federal election—whenever the campaign comes. A key figure in the story is Don Drummond, the former federal Finance official whose insider knowledge of Ottawa has made him an indispensable commentator since he joined TD Bank Financial Group as chief economist in 2000.

How much has Stephen Harper’s government actually spent on stimulus? Who knows?

John Geddes takes a close look at the Tories three-part plan

On budget promises and whether the Tories can survive after governing through a punishing economic downturn