Key issues in the General Election of 2011 - Number 1

A constitutionally focused government that ensures that individuals have the freedom to participate in both the supply and demand sides of the free market economy.

Keynesian economic theory rests on the assumption that government intervention in the marketplace is not only benign but can have a positive effect on the market economy, IF the government intervention is reversed when the desired effect is achieved. It is this second part that has been uniformly ignored by successive governments, as they spend money they do not have (yet, that is, received as revenues) causing government to operate under a deficit (requiring short term borrowing), which, when it is not reversed (read: paid back) becomes debt. The 'stimulus' spending by the government is a good example of this, both in Canada and the US. Time has shown that the money (which they never had but was borrowed) was wasted for almost no discernible effect on the economy.  Government fiscal policy for decades has rested on this failure to reverse the intervention, and so now there are large debts, which future generations will have to pay off, eventually. The interest payments on borrowed money drain the provincial coffers, and reduce the amount of money available for government to perform it's primary functions of delivering vital services to the people of Saskatchewan.

This is in direct contradiction to Austrian economic theory, which views all government intervention as benign at best, but generally having a negative effect on the economy. Saskatchewan has been a petri dish for decades, with massive government intervention, none of it benign, with the overall result of a moribund economy, which leads inexorably to the best and brightest fleeing elsewhere to seek success in a free(r) economy. Alberta has benefited mostly from this flight of human capital, and the economy (and population) of Alberta long ago exceeded that of Saskatchewan.

In Saskatchewan the government stifles the free market not only with over-regulation, but also with the Crowns competing with the free market for limited resources in labor, capital, credit (borrowing) and, most importantly, market share. Sasktel is a case in point, with the Crown corporation ruthlessly crushing any and all competition (most notably the small operators offering dial-up internet access). Sasktel cannot sustain undercutting the very large competitors, such as Rogers, and have been forced to concede market share.

Government has no money of it's own, but must take it from individuals, in the form of taxes (and businesses pass along any taxes they 'pay' to the end users, the individuals, as a cost of doing business) and this reduces the amount of money available for individuals to spend with the private sector. Crown monopolies reduce the choices available to individuals and choice is the driving factor in competing for market share.

Where can I, as a citizen purchase car insurance, health care, electricity, natural gas, etc. etc.? One place and one place only and that removes the competition that drives down prices as the various choices that would be available were there not a monopoly are not allowed to exist.

Furthermore, citizens (and the businesses they would own and operate if only they could) cannot compete with the Crowns, offering up choices in the delivery of goods and services, which would result in better and cheaper alternatives available to the market, as is always the case when providers are permitted to compete for market share. This also has the effect of reducing the amount of money collected by government in the form of taxes on private sector activity, as the potential employers do not hire employees. Worse, the service is then provided by public sector workers, and all their 'wages' come first from the actual taxpayers of the province. This point cannot be over-emphasized. Most importantly, wealth is not a zero sum game but is created by the private sector, something the public sector cannot do.

Allowing people in Saskatchewan to participate in both sides of the supply/demand equation would increase the wealth of the Province, and that means removing governments ability to interfere in the market economy.