There is a common narrative that the government has reduced total social spending to the detriment of service delivery, particularly for the unemployed and poor.

A look at nominal consolidated total government spending shows several characteristics of the budget that exhibit a path to a welfare state that, if not reversed, will lead to ruin and the reversal of the social protection that currently exists. The prevailing push to expand a debt-funded social wage takes the country further on the path to a debt default...

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