On trivialities

Not that there should have been any doubt. But Statistics Canada's top economic analyst confirms the obvious about how much identifiable effect corporate tax slashing actually figures to have:

Philip Cross’s comments speak to the debate raging between the Conservatives and the Liberals: Are corporate tax cuts an elixir for investment, growth and jobs, as the Conservatives claim?

Or are they a drain on the fiscal purse at a time when there are better ways to create jobs, as the Liberals argue?

"A couple of billion dollars (of savings from tax cuts) is a drop in the bucket of corporate income here," Cross said in an interview. "It’s trivial."

Of course, it's well worth noting that the results of some of the other possible uses for a fraction of the tax cut amount - say, lifting every senior in the country out of poverty through the Guaranteed Income Supplement - would be far from trivial for those involved. And it may take an awful lot of publicly-funded ads for the Cons to try to make the case that we should fund the minor benefit for those who need it least over a major boost for those who need it most.