John Robson: We’re Living Beyond Our Means, and That Means Trouble if the Economy Tanks

Both the federal government and Canadian citizens have been indulging in spending and borrowing for decades while ignoring warning signs, writes John Robson. The Canadian Press/Justin Tang

Commentary

Canadian debt is very much on my mind. Well duh, with next week’s federal budget depending on bond traders being so fuddled by splitting total borrowing into Borrowing A (Good) and Borrowing B (Bad), that they can’t add A and B and get Borrowing C (Scary). But actually, my concern is private borrowing because, if the budget doesn’t work out well, are we ready to weather the storm? Heck no. And we don’t care.