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The government is playing with its hands on the budget - and that's the damage - Walla! Business

2020-08-13T21:42:59.068Z


Approval of the state budget is delayed and the government is running according to the 2019 budget. In order to continue operating, the government invented the Israblof "corona boxes". It may give immediate solutions but Avichai Snir wonders what will happen the day after the corona


  • Business
  • The capital market in Israel

The government is playing hand-me-downs over the budget - and that's the damage

Approval of the state budget is delayed and the government is running according to the 2019 budget. In order to continue operating, the government invented the Israblof "corona boxes". It may give immediate solutions but Avichai Snir wonders what will happen the day after the corona

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  • Benjamin Netanyahu
  • Government of Israel

Avichai Snir

Friday, 14 August 2020, 00:43

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      In the video: Vote in a preliminary reading on the Budget Deferral Law (Photo: Knesset Channel, Editing: Nir Chen)

      The government is having a hard time passing a budget, which means that even in the next few months (at least), an increase in government spending will happen through what has been dubbed "corona boxes." I do not know who decided to call budget additions boxes, but I think it would have been better to call them fives.

      Because the phrase corona boxes describes a situation where the government wants to increase spending, but it is not allowed to do so because we are stuck with a budget from 2019, and the law does not allow a deviation from the budget. To allow the government to increase spending anyway, Israbloff invented: Write down the unapproved spending in a special section that seems to do not belong to the budget and call it boxes. Of course like any other Israbloff, someone will have to pay for it. In the case of the corona boxes, the one who will have to pay is us, our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, because the State of Israel will only have to pay the corona debts in 100 years.

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      But that's not my main problem with the corona boxes. The State of Israel is facing an unprecedented crisis, so it is understandable and reasonable for the government to incur extraordinary expenses. My main problem is that the corona boxes allow the government to give up priorities.

      What will they say after the social facts, that the money is gone? (Photo: Maya Horodnichano)

      The budget - the main role of the government

      When the government operates under a constraint that forces it to set priorities, it is clear even to government ministers that it should be distributed to those who need it and taken from those who have more. But if there are no limits, then why not distribute to everyone?

      The main role of the government is to set a budget. Through the budget, the government sets its priorities. It determines what is important and therefore large sums should be allocated to it, and what is less important and therefore nothing can be allocated to it. As a voter, I meet government policy through the budget: if I get good services in places that are important to me, a sign that my and the government's priorities are similar. If not, I will vote for someone else.

      But when the government deals with boxes, there are no priorities, and when the government has no priorities, it has no problem spending. The nurses demand extras, the nurses get extras. Social workers want extras, social workers get extras. The self-employed are protesting, the self-employed are getting extras.

      I have nothing against all these additions. The Corona has increased the workload on social workers and workers in the medical professions, and there is certainly room to compensate them. There is also room to compensate those self-employed who have left government decisions without work and without hope. To be more important, there are other things that have become less important, and in places that have become less important one can cut back. For example, one can cut down on confidence because the enemies around us are also now busy in Corona instead of wars. There are also quite a few civil servants whose workload has been greatly reduced because of the corona. There are also many other places for cuts.

      Distribution of money to each citizen is the most beautiful example of what happens when there are no priorities. When the government operates under a constraint that forces it to set priorities, it is clear even to government ministers that it should be distributed to those who need it and taken from those who have more. But if there are no limits, then why not distribute to everyone?

      Plus, since these are boxes and not a budget, all the money the government distributes is only up to the end of the corona. This makes these expenditures look one-time, and it is much easier for the government to approve a one-time expenditure than a fixed expenditure. But people who get an extra budget get used to it, and what will the government do in a few months when it has to tell the social workers and nurses that the corona has run out and it stops paying?

      Maybe it's better not to know. Suitable for me or not. Corona boxes allow me to know only one thing: my taxes will be used to pay the remaining debts, which is a lot of money.

      Dr. Avichai Snir - Netanya Academy and Bar-Ilan University

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        Source: walla

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