Some economists have attacked the two-percentage point cut in the GST to 5 per cent proposed by the Conservatives in the January 2006 Canadian federal election. The main reason for this is that many economists believe that, if money was available for tax cuts, it would make more sense to use it...

This paper argues that the two-percentage point cut in the GST to 5 per cent proposed by the Conservatives in the January 2006 Canadian federal election and implemented in the 2007 budget was not “stupid” as suggested by many economists. To the contrary, it fortuitously turned out to provide...