I’m going to sound like a moron asking this, but if the country makes over 2 trillion per year, and we are only spending 4 some-odd billion per year, shouldn’t we be able to get out of debt while staying afloat over time?
Ah ok so if I’m understanding this, the 2.2T we make is all of our collective earnings, which we then get taxed on, which in turn pays for our services and those who help keep things going (i.e. police, firefighters, gov workers) and such ALONG WITH paying down the debt and building up the infrastructure where it’s needed?
Exactly. Consider it like family X making $220,000 combined income, but paying $44,000 in federal taxes. The remaining $176 is the family’s money to spent (at least before the provincial tax slice).
Edit: and to be clear, $440B is federal taxes. Some of the things you mentioned are paid for by provincial or municipal taxes.
I’m going to sound like a moron asking this, but if the country makes over 2 trillion per year, and we are only spending 4 some-odd billion per year, shouldn’t we be able to get out of debt while staying afloat over time?
Because we tax ~0.44T on our 2.2T GDP. Or about 20%.
Ah ok so if I’m understanding this, the 2.2T we make is all of our collective earnings, which we then get taxed on, which in turn pays for our services and those who help keep things going (i.e. police, firefighters, gov workers) and such ALONG WITH paying down the debt and building up the infrastructure where it’s needed?
Exactly. Consider it like family X making $220,000 combined income, but paying $44,000 in federal taxes. The remaining $176 is the family’s money to spent (at least before the provincial tax slice).
Edit: and to be clear, $440B is federal taxes. Some of the things you mentioned are paid for by provincial or municipal taxes.