I grew up with the federal deficit and I still have the fiscal scars to prove it. From less than 20 per cent of GDP in 1976, the federal debt grew to 68 per cent two decades later. The federal deficit today, at $19 billion, is less than one per cent of GDP; the debt, just 31 per cent. Maybe federal deficits are yesterday’s issue. Federal spending growth was actually relatively restrained in the late 1970s: per capita, after inflation, program spending was about the same in 1980 as it was in 1975.

Source: National Post October 22, 2018 23:35 UTC