Yesterday in Ottawa, where I live, was the first big snow storm of the winter. Approximately 20 centimeters of the fluffy white stuff was dumped on our nations capital, and the city worked hard to keep the streets safe and clear. More than 500 pieces of snow removal equipment were on the streets clearing snow, and the city estimates that the cost to taxpayers was approximately $1 million dollars. $1 million dollars...that's a lot of money. Was it well spent? I'd say "mostly."

I find it interesting to consider the way the government spends our hard earned tax payers money. It can be a topic of much debates and opinions. People argue how money is spent on education, health care, gun registry, ...or another hot topic in Ottawa recently...Landsdown park. It seems everyone has a different opinion on what money should and shouldn't be spent on.

As for spending $1million in response to a snow storm, for the most part I'd say it was money well spent. I often view this type of spending through a different set of glasses than probably many people. I look at the economic benefit derived from the spending. Snow is a reality of living in Ottawa, and as a city we have to plan for it. It is appropriate then to budget snow clearing expenses for the benefit of the whole city. Without clearing the snow families are trapped in their homes, kids don't go to school, businesses don't create new goods, services and technologies, and economically the city comes to a halt. Clearing the snow can be said to add economic benefit therefore because it allows children to get education, businesses to create value to the marketplace, families get pay cheques, and the economic wheels keep moving. 

In the same way, infrastructure spending can be considered money well spent. New roads provide better transportation, new power and utility lines provide greater services to  family homes and businesses. New water treatment plants provide safer water for both citizens, and the environment. All of these things give added economic value to the people. In fact many of them will improve future commerce and therefore infrastructure spending can be considered as investing in assets that will improve our future economy. 

However, not all the money spent on yesterdays snow storm was well spent. The city reported that 52 car accidents had been reported. These accidents cause additional costs that will never provide future economic gain or value. Cars need to be repaired after a collision, which normally gets expensed through an individuals automotive insurance. The insurance company of course pays that money out from insurance premiums collected from a wide pool of clients. City emergency personnel have to also respond to car accidents. These emergency response services are also paid by the tax payers. These are two examples of costs that never create future economic gains. No improvement to future earnings are achieved, and no improvement to quality of live is created. This money basically vanished as a result of accidents caused by poor driving conditions. Some may argue that the police officer, or the paramedic experienced economic gain, but it is only true on the individual level. It is not true looking at the economy as a whole. In an utopia world, there would be no accidents, and there would be no need for those emergency response services. Instead of being police officers or paramedics, these individuals could become brick layers, and Mechanical Engineers, who could put their labor towards providing goods, services and technology that would advance our economy as a whole.

Unfortunately we live in a broken world, and snow storms, and car accidents are a reality. Thank you therefore to all the snow removal services, and the emergency response services who worked yesterday. Thank you for keeping the roads clear, and helping people get back on the streets and home to their families last night.