How not to stimulate your private sector

A curious and onanistic release today from Danny Williams-Government contained a couple of unusual examples of "economic stimulus".

Photo #3 - Pictured here is an artist's conception of the New Torbay Elementary School, valued at $16.9 million

Photo #4 (PDF) - Map of Trans Labrador Highway (Phase I, II and III)

Wow.

An artist's conception. And a map. A map with a glaring typo in it.

There! Done! We have successfully stimulated the CAD and GIS industries.

But you see, the wierd thing about economic stimulus as government policy is that it doesn't actually count as economic stimulus if you're doing something economic and stimulating that you had already said you were going to do.

The Torbay school? On the books since at least 2006, well before the onset of the recession which precipitated the need for economic stimulus.

The TLH? Announced since forever.

(A much more exhaustive list over at the nefarious BondPapers.)

So, hey, good on the CAD and GIS industries for having received all the intellectually stimulating work. Who knows, maybe some day in addition to mouses on the pad, Danny Williams-Government will stimulate the private sector by putting shovels in the ground, other than those that it has been promising to put in the ground for half a decade now.