Carney could have borrowed more and taken bigger risks in his budget

opinion

Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks at the Vector artificial intelligence research institute in Toronto on Friday.

John Rapley is a contributing columnist for The Globe and Mail. He is an author and academic whose books include Why Empires Fall and Twilight of the Money Gods .

Before its release, the federal budget was hailed as a bold, ambitious, “generational investment.” Once revealed, it looked like a central banker’s version of boldness.

Prudent, it was. No, the deficit won’t fall as fast as previously projected and debt as a share of gross domestic product will rise over the next decade, which isn’t ideal. But when it comes to a government’s reputation for money management, the judges’ panel remains the bond market and there the signals have been good. Government bond