Former ACT Treasury official Dr Stephen Ahmed, and former ACT financial consultant Dr Stephen Anthony raised that question and took aim at the territory government's continuing addiction to deficit budgeting on Thursday.

Dr Ahmed, a confidant of former chief minister Jon Stanhope, and who has emerged as a strong critic of the ACT government's land release and housing policies – or perceived lack thereof – warned we are riding for a fall.

Dr Anthony said with government spending still the biggest economic driver within the city state, Canberra is dangerously exposed to any future economic downturn.

The last near-contraction, sparked by job losses in the federal public service in the wake of the GFC under both the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd and Abbott governments, had a determined Katy Gallagher refuse to mirror those cuts at the territory level.

That may not always be possible, with Dr Anthony raising the spectre of an underlying structural deficit that not only never goes away but has the potential to blow out exponentially.

"If the government isn't exercising the requisite control over spending and doing everything in its power to maintain competitive growth drivers, it is much easier to get in a very tough situation quickly," he said.

The key words here are "competitive growth drivers".

While spending on roads, hospitals, a light rail network and other state-funded infrastructure and services does create jobs it cannot, of itself, create significant economic growth unless government imposts, either through rates, land prices or other means, are levied at punitive levels.

History shows the best way any jurisdiction can create additional revenue, jobs and growth is by increasing the size of its economy.

This cannot be a "by-the-bootstraps" affair dependent on taxes and charges and ever-growing deficits that impoverish the very community you are trying to help.

The Canberra Times has long maintained the best way forward for the ACT is to grow the private sector by building on the territory's many strengths and synergies.

Our concentration of universities, government departments, key elements of the defence establishment and the presence of organisations such as the CSIRO mean this is already one of Australia's best-educated communities.

This has already borne fruit in the form of home-grown businesses such as Aspen Medical, CEA Technologies and the like.

Businesses such as these, both of which have strong track records of doing business overseas, have a demonstrated capacity to grow the economic pie.

This is a much-more positive result than shifting money from private hands to the public coffers and then, albeit usually in dribs and drabs, back again.