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Three things to bear in mind as you listen to what the parties are telling you about the economy and their respective plans to “fix” it. 1: None of it is true. 2: If it is it’s usually a bad idea.

But 3: Thankfully, most of it doesn’t matter. The differences between the parties are so trivial, their likely impact on the economy, for good or ill, so minor, that for now at least you can safely tune out most of the debate.

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Take the question du jour, the NDP’s fiscal plan, and in particular its pledge to balance the budget, starting in its first full year. The party leader, Tom Mulcair, has been, as he says, “categorical” on this. “We will not be running a deficit.”

Initial response to this, led by the Liberals, focused on whether this was a good idea: that is, should the government balance its budget, or if it should — every party is in favour of balancing it someday — should it do so now? Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau went so far as to accuse the NDP of “austerity,” than which no greater sin exists in the progressive lexicon.