VANCOUVER—Contrary to what many Canadians, and interestingly some policymakers and even economists think, debt-financed government spending has real economic costs, even when interest rates are very low, finds a new study by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.
“There is no free lunch when it comes to debt-financed government spending. Even with record low interest rates, there are real costs imposed on the economy and Canadians,” said Bev Dahlby, a senior fellow with the Fraser Institute and co-author of The Fiscal Costs of Debt-Financed Government Spending.