Associate Professor Vivek Dehejia was quoted in the Ottawa Citizen today regarding his expertise on monetary issues and government fiscal policy. Here is a quote from the article:
Vivek Dehejia, an economics professor at Carleton University, said he was “surprised and disappointed” to see the findings of the PBO’s latest report.
“(Spending) has been steadily going up and, in my opinion, it’s part of a larger pattern of very large and excessive fiscal spending by the government,” Dehejia said. “It seems strange that while they’re spending more on their full-time, professional staff they’re also contracting out a lot more. It really does seem a bit puzzling.”
Dehejia said the high rates of spending are concerning given the current economic environment.
And while the projections could have even higher in the absence of the cuts they say they’re making, Dehejia said, “in absolute terms, it’s a very large amount.
“Fiscal policy is still very inflationary,” he added. “The bank is trying to reduce inflation by raising interest rates, causing pain for average Canadians. With a higher fiscal deficit, the bank has to work even harder and may have to raise rates again, even more than they would have had to if the fiscal deficit were under control. I find the whole the whole pattern, the whole mix of things quite worrying.”
The full article can be found on the Ottawa Citizen site.