Jim Flaherty’s Keynesian moment, and its mixed results
Former Finance Minister Jim Flaherty will be rightly remembered for the 2009 federal Budget which provided much-needed fiscal stimulus to boost a crisis-ridden Canadian economy and helped set the stage for recovery.
While the government was reluctant to act, domestic political as well as international pressure from the G20 forced even strict fiscal conservatives such as Prime Minister Harper and Minister Flaherty to find their inner Keynes.
Short-term infrastructure projects put many unemployed Canadians back to work, and extended unemployment benefits made a big difference...