Your Survival Guy

Preparing your investments and family for when disaster strikes.

Compensation was paid to utilize rankings. Click here to read full disclosure.

Are Canada’s Higher Taxes the Answer to America’s Infrastructure Problems?

By

In a word, no. Dan Mitchell, a senior fellow at the free market focused Cato Institute deftly shoots holes in the argument made by Canadian writer Jonathan Kay in The Atlantic. Kay makes the case that if only the U.S. would raise its overall tax burden nearer to the average for OECD nations, the Land of the Free would have plenty of money to pour into upgrading its infrastructure. On his International Liberty blog, Mitchell takes apart the case made by Kay piece by piece. He makes the case quite clear, without even employing his trove of Laffer Curve examples.

Mitchell writes:

Canada is now one of the world’s most economically free nations thanks to relatively sensible policies involving spending restraint, corporate tax reform, bank bailouts, regulatory budgeting, the tax treatment of saving, and privatization of air traffic control. Heck, Canada even has one of the lowest levels of welfare spending among developed nations.

So when I saw a column in the Atlantic, suggesting that America can learn from Canada, I was instantly intrigued.

But it turns out that the author, Jonathan Kay, was more interested in extolling the virtues of big government rather than boasting about his nation’s economic reforms.

He starts by grousing about sub-par infrastructure in America.

There hasn’t been a new major airport constructed in the United States since 1995. And the existing stock of terminals is badly in need of upgrades. Much of the surrounding road and rail infrastructure is in even worse shape (the trip from LaGuardia Airport to midtown Manhattan being particularly appalling). Washington, D.C.’s semi-functional subway system feels like a World’s Fair exhibit that someone forgot to close down. Detroit’s 90-year-old Ambassador Bridge—which carries close to $200 billion worth of goods across the Canada-U.S. border annually—has been operating beyond its engineering capacity for years.

I have little doubt that America has serious infrastructure problems, particularly in big cities (such as New York, Washington, and Detroit) where spending decisions are driven by a desire to line the pockets of unionized bureaucrats rather than to provide services to taxpayers.

But is the United States really some sort of third-world backwater compared to our northern cousins? A few years ago, I looked at data from the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report to see how the United States was ranked for infrastructure and discovered America was in 12th place. Which was higher than Canada’s 15th-place ranking.

Read more here.

Dan Mitchell on Trump, Tax Cuts, and Infrastructure

Be Intelligent: Join Dick Young & Get My Friday Email
The following two tabs change content below.
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Instagram profile

E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West (RIP JB) and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Instagram profile

Latest posts by E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy (see all)

Recent Posts from YourSurvivalGuy.com

Your Survival Guy in Paris: The Greatest Cafés

Your Survival Guy and Gal went for a late lunch recently at Café de Flore on the Left Bank, in the 6th, in the heart of Saint Germain des Prés. This is where you want to be. It’s a favorite because you have Café Bonaparte, Les Deux Magots, and Brasserie Lipp—just to name a few—right […]

ROGUE BUREAUCRATS: Trump Declares War on the Deep State

You know the federal government has a bureaucracy problem. In his first term, Donald Trump declared war on the Deep State, and created a path forward for removing “rogue bureaucrats” from the system. The Biden administration has sought to reverse Trump’s plans to protect the bureaucrats from accountability, but Trump has promised to move forward […]

Kamala Harris’s Latest Big Mistake

UPDATE 10.14.24: Things just keep getting worse for Kamala Harris. Her lead in national polls is disappearing, and Donald Trump is ahead in nearly every swing state, according to the RealClearPolitics averages of polls. In the New York Post, Miranda Devine discusses the different effects the two major party presidential candidates’ picks for VP have […]

Your Survival Guy in Paris: Pot of Gold

 Be Intelligent: Join Dick Young & Get My Friday Email Action Line: Click here to subscribe to my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter. P.S. Read all about my latest adventure in Paris. Your Survival Guy in Paris: Go Big, Not Broke: You don’t go to Paris to save money. You do that before […]

Harris’s Record of Radicalism

Kamala Harris has had a sheltered existence as a candidate so far. She didn’t need to compete in a primary, and she hasn’t done many interviews. The American people don’t know much about her without doing some digging. In The American Conservative, Rep. Jim Banks digs in and exposes Kamala Harris’s record of “radicalism.” Banks […]

Inflation Flare Up Frightens Fed

You have probably been watching the Fed’s actions with suspicion as it lowers rates despite continued above “target” inflation numbers. Jerome Powell and other Fed officials have explained that the momentum of disinflation is strong enough to continue to bring prices down even with rate cuts. Despite Powell’s assurances, inflation remains stubbornly high. In the […]

Your Survival Guy in Paris: Go Big, Not Broke

You don’t go to Paris to save money. You do that before you arrive. You save ‘til it hurts and live within your means. Paris is for spending. With a little prior planning, you don’t have to break the bank. You can have your cake and eat it too. Literally. There are plenty of Michelin-star […]

Chicago Already Regrets Electing Progressive Mayor

Radical progressive politicians have seized power in many of America’s Big Blue Blob cities. Instead of protecting the interests of their constituents, these politicians put their personal political agendas first and foremost. Perhaps none have done such a poor job for voters as Chicago’s radical progressive mayor, Brandon Johnson. John O. McGinnis explains in City […]

Your Survival Guy in Paris: 14,000 Steps

Your Survival Guy and Gal walked 14,000 steps for lunch yesterday from Le Bristol Hotel to Breizh Café for oysters, crepes, and cider. It’s not exactly a walk to your corner bistro. There are at least a couple of Breizh Cafés in Paris. This one, our favorite, is in the Marais, a cool neighborhood perfect […]

The Rift Between Biden and Harris Grows Wider

You have probably noticed a number of moments recently when it seemed that perhaps Joe Biden is not entirely happy with Kamala Harris coopting his political campaign and taking his place as the Democrats’ nominee for the presidency. Recently, Biden told reporters in the White House briefing room that he was “back in” the race. […]

David Dorn’s Wife SLAMS Soros and Kamala Harris in Heart Wrenching Op-Ed

UPDATE 10.9.24: Americans voting in November should remember that when Kamala Harris had to choose between supporting the police and supporting criminals, she chose the criminals. Originally posted August 24, 2022. The killer of former police officer David Dorn, who died defending a small business from BLM rioters in 2020, was convicted of his crimes […]

Your Survival Guy in Paris: “Time Stand Still”

One of the more misunderstood components of compound interest is time. Everyone understands the rate of return. It’s all you hear about, from your uncles to your nephews. “What did it return this year?” they ask. Time, on the other hand, is boring except when you do it over a couple of generations. Then it […]

Harris Is Coming After Your IRAs

With her tax plan, Kamala Harris’s administration would take half of the corporate profits in the stocks you own. Jeff Yass and Stephen Moore explain in The Wall Street Journal, writing: Kamala Harris keeps changing her tax plan, but her latest proposal is to raise the corporate tax rate to 28%. She would also raise […]

Harris’s Anti-Constitution Pattern

Kamala Harris recently discussed owning a Glock in an interview with 60 Minutes’s Bill Whitaker. Put aside for a moment that Kamala Harris has attempted to ban “high capacity” magazines, which would include, according to anti-gun activists, nearly every model Glock produces. Watch the clip below: What model Glock do you think Kamala Harris owns? […]

The Most Beautiful Trips I Took Were Through…

Growing up, Your Survival Guy’s mom would always talk about prior planning. It would often revolve around a vacation we felt lucky to be taking. “Prior planning,” she would say with a smile, hardly believing it herself, deep down knowing how hard it was to spend the money. When you learn at an early age […]