Sources of Debt Accumulation in Resource-Dependent Provinces ...

• Main Author: Kneebone, Ronald D.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The School of Public Policy Publications 2015
• Subjects: Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.11575/sppp.v8i0.42524.g30412; https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/sppp/article/view/42524/30412

Governments in provinces relying on natural resource commodities for significant amounts of revenue face the distinct challenge of unpredictably fluctuating budget circumstances. As politicians routinely point out, much of that challenge is in the volatility of global commodity prices. But a big part of it is actually the policies of the governments themselves. In fact, when effects of commodity prices, economic cycles and fiscal policy are separated from one another, one of the biggest impacts on government debt over the last 30 years in Canada’s four resource-dependent provinces — Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador — has been government policy. While years of booming economies have offset years of busts, virtually all the debt racked up by these provinces over more than three decades has been a combination of movements in commodity prices and political decisions. In Alberta, over three periods since the early 1980s, totalling more than 15 years cumulatively, it was policy ... : The School of Public Policy Publications, Vol 8 (2015) ...