I refer to Russ Vinden’s Oct. 31 NEWS letter ‘Debt woes.’
This must be the 10th or 12th letter he has written on the same subject. He suggests the national debt should be financed directly by The Bank of Canada rather than by the private sector.
Since reference to the banks’ most recent balance sheet indicates that it has no surplus money to lend, I think it’s high time Vinden explained how this can be done.
Furthermore, the size of the national debt is not so much due to who the government is borrowing from but why it is borrowing. The main reason is that we Canadians demand that more and more be spent on health care, education etc., than the income from taxes.
Concerning his remarks on the banks making money off government loans, it appears that he holds the common view that bank profits are exclusive and not in the public interest. However the fact is, bank shares are held by millions of Canadians, a great number of mutual funds and virtually every pension fund in the country including, the Canada Pension Plan. Bank profits in the form of dividends are therefor a benefit shared directly and indirectly by most Canadians in one form or another and particularly those retired.
Colin Bartlett
Parksville