Alec the Bruce is back at it doing a little whacking of his own. I don’t do a lot of linking to other blogs (I should do more) but this one is well worth the read.
Unfortunately, through decades of public sector pandering to short-term economic and political pressures in Atlantic Canada, the ‘business subsidy’ has become an ideological piñata, whacked by the right wing for the so-called culture of defeatism it has nurtured and smacked by the left wing for lining the pockets of the region’s wealthy elite.
Still, Ontario’s example [the billion dollar auto subsidy program] comes close to proving that in principle and practice timely, targeted and strategic public investments in private enterprise can generate long-term industrial benefits. If we can get out of our own way, we may also recognize that all business subsidies are not created equal.
Britannia calls Robert the Bruce the “greatest of all the great Scottish heroes”. What pray tell should we call our own Alec the Bruce?