Good morning, everyone. I feel reminiscent this morning. I think I'm back in graduate school, talking about fiscal multipliers and models from the University of Toronto, so I'm having a bit of a sense of déjà vu this morning.
On a big-picture basis, I think it's great when we put more money back into the hands of hard-working Canadians. I think that's where taxpayers' money needs to be, back to Canadian workers.
We have cut taxes for nine million Canadians, and they will benefit this year. Nine million Canadians will have lower taxes and more disposable income. It behooves us to emphasize that the average person will receive $330, and on a per couple basis, $540. On top of that, we are introducing this wonderful Canada child benefit, which will be transformational for literally millions of families and benefit nine out of 10 families in Canada. I think it will result in $23 billion in payments that will come from the CCB in fiscal 2016-17.
First of all, I have a couple of comments. The fiscal multipliers are open to a lot of interpretation—you may use one number, or you may use another number. There are lots of estimates. There is also a thing called the “animal spirits”, from my understanding. Overall, consumer psychology is that if you put more money in the hands of consumers, they tend to feel better and they tend to go out and spend. That's what I would assume.
I would just like to say that, in general, it is better to have lower income tax rates than higher income tax rates. Would we not agree on that?
