Good for Canada. Love the country, love the people.
This line is true, however: "Canada has been, and always will be, overshadowed by its neighbour, by Americas vastness and its incredible versatility and capacity for reinvention. But occasionally, at key moments, the northern wasteland can surprise." SO enjoy it. America will come roaring back. Our crazy capitalist ideas can lead to some highs and lows, and lacks the nice equilibrium that Canada has been enjoying lately. But when we're in one of our up cycles......it can be dizzying. (I experienced this first hand. The week i just spent in Canada was so damn relaxing......) On Fri, Jul 20, 2012 at 2:05 PM, Larry C. Lyons <[email protected]>wrote: > > > http://www.therecord.com/opinion/columns/article/762486--hard-headed-socialism-makes-canada-richer-than-u-s > > Hard-headed socialism makes Canada richer than U.S. > Stephen Marche > July 18, 2012 > On Canada Day, Canadians awoke to a startling, if pleasant, piece of > news: For the first time in recent history, the average Canadian is > richer than the average American. > > According to data from Environics Analytics WealthScapes published in > the Globe and Mail, the net worth of the average Canadian household in > 2011 was $363,202, while the average American households net worth > was $319,970. > > A few days later, Canada and the United States both released the > latest job figures. Canadas unemployment rate fell, again, to 7.2 per > cent, and Americas was a stagnant 8.2 per cent. Canada continues to > thrive while the U.S. struggles to find its way out of an intractable > economic crisis and a political sine curve of hope and despair. > > The difference grows starker by the month. The Canadian system is > working; the American system is not. And its not just Canadians who > are noticing. As Iceland considers switching to a currency other than > the krona, its leaders primary focus of interest is the loonie the > Canadian dollar. > > As a study recently published in the New York University Law Review > pointed out, national constitutions based on the American model are > quickly disappearing. U.S. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in an > interview on Egyptian television, admitted, I would not look to the > United States constitution if I were drafting a constitution in the > year 2012. The natural replacement? The Canadian Charter of Rights > and Freedoms, achieving the status of legal superstar as it reached > its 30th birthday. > > Good politics do not account entirely for recent economic triumphs. > Luck has played a major part. The Alberta oilsands an environmental > catastrophe in waiting are the third-largest oil reserves in the > world, and if America is too squeamish to buy our filthy energy, > theres always China. We also have softwood lumber, potash and other > natural resources in abundance. > > Policy has played a significant part as well, though. Both liberals > and conservatives in the U.S. have tried to use the Canadian example > to promote their arguments. The left says Canada shows the rewards of > financial regulation and socialism, while the right likes to vaunt the > brutal cuts made to Canadian social programs in the 1990s, which set > the stage for economic recovery. > > The truth is that both sides are right. Since the 1990s, Canada has > pursued a hard-headed (even ruthless), fiscally conservative form of > socialism. Its originator was Paul Martin, who was finance minister > for most of the 90s, and served a stint as prime minister from 2003 > to 2006. Alone among finance ministers in the Group of Eight nations, > he resisted the siren call of deregulation, in his words, and > insisted that the banks tighten their loan-loss and reserve > requirements. He also made a courageous decision not to allow Canadian > banks to merge, even though their chief executives claimed they would > never be globally competitive unless they did. The stability of > Canadian banks and the concomitant stability in the housing market > provide the clearest explanation for why Canadians are richer than > Americans today. > > Martin also slashed funding to social programs. He foresaw that > crippling deficits imperiled Canadas education and health care > systems, which even his Conservative predecessor, Brian Mulroney, > described as a sacred trust. He cut corporate taxes, too. Growth is > required to pay for social programs, and social programs that increase > opportunity and social integration are the best way to ensure growth > over the long term. Social programs and robust capitalism are not, as > so many would have you believe, inherently opposed propositions. Both > are required for meaningful national prosperity. > > Martins balanced policies emerged organically out of Canadian > culture, which is fair-minded and rule-following to a fault. The > Canadian obsession with order can make for strange politics, at least > in an American context. For example, of all the worlds societies, > Canadas is one of the most open to immigrants, as anyone who has been > to Toronto or Vancouver will have seen. Yet Canada also imposes a > mandatory one-year prison sentence on illegal immigrants, and the > majority of Canadians favour deportation. Canadians insist that their > compassion be orderly, too. > > This immigration policy is neither liberal nor conservative in the > American political sense. It just works. You could say exactly the > same thing about Canadas economic policies. > > Canada has been, and always will be, overshadowed by its neighbour, by > Americas vastness and its incredible versatility and capacity for > reinvention. But occasionally, at key moments, the northern wasteland > can surprise. Two hundred years ago last month, the War of 1812 began. > Thomas Jefferson declared, The acquisition of Canada, this year, as > far as the neighbourhood of Quebec, will be a mere matter of > marching. The U.S. was comparatively enormous with almost eight > million people, compared with Canadas 300,000. The Canadians > nonetheless turned back the assault. > > Through good luck, excellent policy and even some heroism, Canada > survived the war. But it has taken 200 years for Canada to become > winners. > > Canadian writer Stephen Marche is a novelist and columnist for Esquire > Magazine. His most recent book is How Shakespeare Changed > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:352901 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
