Double Entry Bookkeeping Policy

Whereas:

1) It is impossible to find your way through the overgrown sub prime debt jungle that the world has become, unless you realize that there are two types of debt. The debt of our federal government that is spent into existence and hence bears no interest, and there is the debt lent into existence by banks which does bear interest.

and Whereas:

2) The government's borrowings from the Bank of Canada, of which it has been the sole shareholder since 1938, is the only legal tender in our land -that must be accepted in payment of any debt.

and Whereas:

3) The interest charged the government by the Bank of Canada comes back to it almost entirely in the form of dividends.

and Whereas:

4) The credit of the government when extended to domestic purchases or investments is backed by its taxing powers over the nation, the skills, talents and education of its inhabitants, and the wealth of our environment. That is why all these capital assets -whether they are traded on the market or not -must be preserved and properly valued when privatized

and Whereas:

5) The word "debt" calls to mind a negative sign before a number of dollars, but government debt would be more realistically conceived and would be better understood if we trained ourselves to think of it with a large positive sign before it.

and Whereas:

6) The government must handle its own spending -and hence the country's money creation responsibly.

Therefore:

Be it resolved that CAP/PAC reaffirm its policy that CAP calls on the Canadian government to follow a strict double-entry bookkeeping practice in order to keep track not only of the amortized debts of government investment but also of the depreciated value of its investments -both in physical investments and in human capital.