Comment 51355

By A Smith (anonymous) | Posted November 11, 2010 at 02:54:04

Pxtl >> I could make money off of a radioactive cesspool if I had multiple expressways running through it leading into the heart of Toronto.

Halton has ONE free public highway, the other is a privately operated, pay per use, toll road. Hamilton has 4 free public highways, the 403, QEW, LINC and RHVP. All of these roads connect to Toronto.

Guelph, a city with ZERO free public highways and farther away from Toronto, had property taxes increase by 35% between 2004-08. In that same time frame, Hamilton's increased by 19.2%.

>> Halton succeeds by sucking up every connection into and out of the city, while being unlivable for lower-classes because of being designed for car-culture

The converse would be that Hamilton fails because it subsidizes money losing mass transit. I agree.

However, one way that Hamilton/Ontario governments could help the economy, without hurting poor people, would be to increase cash welfare payments.

This would allow more money to find it's way to businesses that compete for profits and less to workers in government funded industries, such as health care and education. The result would be a more dynamic and competitive workforce.

We all know that Hamilton's economy is going through tough times. The answer is NOT to look to politicians to create the next great idea, whether LRT, Pan Am stadium, or McMaster Innovation Centre.

Rather, we should look to the free market and entrepreneurs. We can do this by pushing for lower taxes and even higher cash welfare for the poor. Both of these pro market reforms will provide fuel for greater innovation and prosperity. Central planning, which is what most of what government spends money on, doesn't create wealth, it destroys it.

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