Friday 20 August 2010

40% Of GNP

“Although accumulated debt is approaching the cap, we will never exceed that,” Minister of Finance Lee Sush-der (李述德) said when asked if the government planned to revise the Public Debt Act (公共債務法), which sets the combined debt ceiling for the central government at 40 percent of average nominal GNP for the previous three years.

The NT$4.7 trillion loan accounts for 37.79 percent of GNP.
I don't believe the Minister of Finance for one second. All that will happen is that either the accounts detailing the public debt will be artificially redefined (perhaps using PPFs) so as not to contradict the Public Debt Act, or that the 40% of GNP specified in the Act will be further "clarified". Significant public spending cuts - especially to education and healthcare - are as vital to the promotion of individual freedom as the continued growth of government spending in these areas is necessary to the survival of our current collectivist political economy. The continuous growth of government spending - here and elsewhere of course - is simply unsustainable.

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