In my last column I pointed out the absurdity of BC government's claim that their budget deficits are the fault of the 1997 Asian economic flu and reduced transfer payments from Ottawa. (Alberta's revenues tanked more severely in fiscal year 1998-99 due to low oil prices than did BC's due to the effects of the Asian flu, and Ottawa will hand over half a billion dollars more to BC this year than they did in fiscal year 1997-98.) A recent report from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of BC adds to the evidence that BC had its own economic virus - thanks in part to ruinous provincial fiscal policies - long before chilly winds blew in from Asia.

The BC Check-Up is full of the usual accountant-speak that combats insomnia better than sleep drugs. (If accountants had better writing styles, they wouldn't be accountants.) But there are nuggets of information in the Check-Up that reveal why it is so crucial that politicians in charge of BC's finances reverse their ideological job-killing policies - and fast.

For starters, the wallets of British Columbians have been getting lighter over the past decade and it's not due to muggers, at least of the type that can be locked up. Real disposable income per person (after inflation and taxes) is 4.3% lower than it was in 1987 and Ottawa and Victoria's increasing tax take is to blame. The study notes that while on average, incomes actually increased slightly faster than inflation over that period, the per person direct tax take increased by 28% after inflation was factored in. Imagine yourself on a treadmill where you're actually running faster with every minute, but someone keeps jacking up the speed of the treadmill. That 'someone' is government, all of them, who have increased their tax take faster than you could earn more money.

The study reveals that BC's businesses have also been in trouble and - sorry for the truth serum Mr. Ramsey - it began long before the 1997 Asian flu. Back in 1987, 2900 BC businesses went bankrupt, compared to 4,000 in 1993 - and in 1996, the year before the Asian flu hit BC - 6,000. And continuing the upward trend, over 7,300 business closed their doors in 1998.

The fact that BC has had one of the most anti-business governments in the country might have something to do with it, as did the higher business taxes imposed over the past decade. 16.5% is now the general business rate compared with 14.0% in 1990. (And the rise in taxes is due both to NDP and Social Credit tax hikes.)

The fact that BC's governing politicians have over-taxed, over-regulated, and tripped up private investment (think of the anti-mining policies of BC's government,) means corporate profits are down by 68% compared with 1987. And for those politicians and anti-wealth creation ideologues that shed no tears for faceless corporations, it might be time to re-think the knee-jerk response to business profits. As our mothers told us, money does not grow on trees.

Similarly, salary increases or jobs do not occur without profits. BC Check-Up points out that BC, which had a lower rate of unemployment than the Canadian average back in 1992, was higher (8.9%) compared to a Canadian average of 7.8%, and an Alberta rate of 5.8% in 1998, the last relevant year of the study. Now that BC has had the check-up, it's time for the politicians to deliver some medicine, starting with a significant reversal of high-tax and anti-wealth creation policies.