Catching up

As the Great Recession mutates into a time of low growth in many of the world's developed economies, an aphorism from the world of business is appropriate: "equity is a pillow; debt is a sword." In most developed economies, the Damoclean sword of sovereign debt "... is increasing in a way that is without precedent except in times of total war." In the "new normal" of 2013, and beyond, it is clear that much-needed infrastructure investment in Canada and abroad can no longer rely entirely on the "pillow" of traditional funding, using the so-called "toolbox" of options like real property taxes, federal and provincial/state gasoline taxes and central government grants (although all of these sources will continue to be important). This paper will make a case for the creation of one or more infrastructure banks in Canada. The paper is written in the form of a "white paper", that is to say, as a call for, or stimulus to, a national debate on iBanks.