Costs in context

Robert beats me to the punch in contrasting the Cons' modest investment in microcredit to the massive expenses put into the military. While the new investment is certainly better than nothing, it's shameful both that Canada has been so late to react to the effectiveness of microcredit, and that the Cons seem downright proud of such a small commitment to a strategy which can do more than any other to build economies and lives in underdeveloped countries.

Update: And it gets worse, as it turns out that the announced money isn't new at all:

While MacKay told the opening of the conference that the announcement marks an "elevated level of support," the Canadian International Development Agency said spending on such programs won't actually increase.

Over the past five years, CIDA has spent about $32 million a year on microcredit initiatives, representing about one per cent of its spending budget.

Sunday's announcement "will likely fall within that $32 million," said agency spokeswoman Bronwyn Cruden.

Needless to say, that revelation surely won't stop the Cons from taking full credit for the announcement, however meaningless it may be.

(Edit: typo.)