More than 130 economists have signed an open letter to parliamentarians calling on MPs to provide the fledgling Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer with the independence and funding required to continue the “commendable record” of analyzing the state of the federal government's finances.
The open letter, published online earlier this week, is as much a challenge to Liberal MPs as it is to Conservatives. MPs from both parties have been lukewarm in support of Parliamentary Budget Office, set up in the spring of 2008 ostensibly to provide an independent assessment of government spending and revenue plans and estimates. The inaugural officer, Kevin Page, in the view of some of those MPs, has shown perhaps too much of an independent streak in the reports he's published over the last year.
Noting the office has recently been subjected to bipartisan attacks, University of British Columbia economics professor Kevin Milligan said, “We write in support of this nascent, innovative, and necessary institution.” Milligan's open letter has been signed by more than 135 economists from universities and organizations across the country. The list includes 15 past presidents of the Canadian Economics Association and seven Canada Research Chairs.
“Without the (budget officer), important and vital information about Canada's fiscal position would be lost,” the letter said.
The committee of MPs and Senators that runs the Library of Parliament and, hence, the PBO has some very different views about what the PBO should be doing. The 40 page report may be a bit dry but you can get the gist of how they wish to clamp down on Page by reading the recommendations. This one, Recommendation 6, likely stands out:
That the Speakers of the Senate and the House of Commons instruct the Parliamentary Budget Officer that a response to a request made by a parliamentarian or a parliamentary committee in accordance with the legislated mandate shall remain confidential, until the confidentiality is lifted by the parliamentarian or the parliamentary committee making the request.
Though the Liberals on the Library committee did not issue a dissenting report or supplementary recommendations, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff is on the record as saying something quite different about the PBO. Here's Ignatieff responding to some questions I put to him in a scrum on March 12 this year:
Me: Good afternoon, Mr. Ignatieff. Could I ask you about the Parliamentary Budget Officer? As you know, there's been some debate about the independence of that office, his battle with the librarian. Where do you see that? Should that be a truly independent officer of Parliament?
Ignatieff: We think it should, yes.
Me: And what are you doing sort of towards resolving that when some of your MPs are not of that view?
Ignatieff: We're supporting the — defending the independence of the PBO, no question about it. Parliament needs it. The country needs it. So we're strongly in support.
Over 95% of the people on this list are academics who may have a sound background in economic theory but have probably never had to make a business decision of any real significance in their lives. Show me a list of names that include real businessmen and maybe this letter would have more impact. As it stands its a group of idealogues trying to masquerade as realists. The fact that you can add your name to this letter with no confirmation that you are an 'expert' in the field, further erodes its worth.