Canada's current economic situation- a comparison

[Kathryn41 3,205]

An interesting read and comparison

http://www.newsweek.com/id/183670

[sj5 4]

Because here in US they pay for lazy people and haunt hard workers.

[DeadPoolX 9]

The welfare situation really needs to be cleaned up in the United States. Some people do need assistance, but there's a difference between "getting someone back up on their feet" versus "allowing them to remain unemployed and simply get a welfare check."

[trailmix 77]

Interesting article kathryn! A bit oversimplified, but interesting none-the-less - an excerpt for those that don't want to click on the link

Worthwhile Canadian Initiative

Canadian banks are typically leveraged at 18 to 1--compared with U.S. banks at 26 to 1.

The legendary editor of The New Republic, Michael Kinsley, once held a "Boring Headline Contest" and decided that the winner was "Worthwhile Canadian Initiative." Twenty-two years later, the magazine was rescued from its economic troubles by a Canadian media company, which should have taught us Americans to be a bit more humble. Now there is even more striking evidence of Canada's virtues. Guess which country, alone in the industrialized world, has not faced a single bank failure, calls for bailouts or government intervention in the financial or mortgage sectors. Yup, it's Canada. In 2008, the World Economic Forum ranked Canada's banking system the healthiest in the world. America's ranked 40th, Britain's 44th.

Canada has done more than survive this financial crisis. The country is positively thriving in it. Canadian banks are well capitalized and poised to take advantage of opportunities that American and European banks cannot seize. The Toronto Dominion Bank, for example, was the 15th-largest bank in North America one year ago. Now it is the fifth-largest. It hasn't grown in size; the others have all shrunk.

So what accounts for the genius of the Canadians? Common sense. Over the past 15 years, as the United States and Europe loosened regulations on their financial industries, the Canadians refused to follow suit, seeing the old rules as useful shock absorbers. Canadian banks are typically leveraged at 18 to 1—compared with U.S. banks at 26 to 1 and European banks at a frightening 61 to 1. Partly this reflects Canada's more risk-averse business culture, but it is also a product of old-fashioned rules on banking.

Edited February 8, 2009 by trailmix

[ozone_1974 1]

Because here in US they pay for lazy people and haunt hard workers.

uhm they do that here in Canada too but the population in USA is far greater than in Canada so IMO it is hard to compare Canada vs USA

USA population (approximately 305,776,875 residents)

Canadian population (approximately 33,547,852 residents)

There are a lot of factors that makes a financial situation like this happen...

[thetreble 19]

Well it really has come down to little to no oversight in all things financial. The US deals with more people amd more dollars. They also are largly invested in most other world markets. Canada is to some extent but not even close.

When people are making 60 million dollars a year as a bonus, of course at some point the walls start crumbling.

Canada has a reputation of having some of the best controlled banks in the world. However, nothing is competitive in a sense. In Canada I banked with CIBC and Scotia bank at the same time and was paying $100/month in banking fees alone. They are making quite a pretty penny off of people.

Good for Canada though. I hope for my family and friend's sake it doesn't get too bad.

[trailmix 77]

Well it really has come down to little to no oversight in all things financial. The US deals with more people amd more dollars. They also are largly invested in most other world markets. Canada is to some extent but not even close.

When people are making 60 million dollars a year as a bonus, of course at some point the walls start crumbling.

Canada has a reputation of having some of the best controlled banks in the world. However, nothing is competitive in a sense. In Canada I banked with CIBC and Scotia bank at the same time and was paying $100/month in banking fees alone. They are making quite a pretty penny off of people.

Good for Canada though. I hope for my family and friend's sake it doesn't get too bad.

I hope so too!

$100 a month, omg, what kind of service did you get for that!?

[Krikit 1,163]

Well it really has come down to little to no oversight in all things financial. The US deals with more people amd more dollars. They also are largly invested in most other world markets. Canada is to some extent but not even close.

When people are making 60 million dollars a year as a bonus, of course at some point the walls start crumbling.

Canada has a reputation of having some of the best controlled banks in the world. However, nothing is competitive in a sense. In Canada I banked with CIBC and Scotia bank at the same time and was paying $100/month in banking fees alone. They are making quite a pretty penny off of people.

Good for Canada though. I hope for my family and friend's sake it doesn't get too bad.

I hope so too!

$100 a month, omg, what kind of service did you get for that!?

I know! I was like..... What the heck?!!!!! I bank with TD/Canada Trust and don't pay any service fees. LOL

[trailmix 77]

Well it really has come down to little to no oversight in all things financial. The US deals with more people amd more dollars. They also are largly invested in most other world markets. Canada is to some extent but not even close.

When people are making 60 million dollars a year as a bonus, of course at some point the walls start crumbling.

Canada has a reputation of having some of the best controlled banks in the world. However, nothing is competitive in a sense. In Canada I banked with CIBC and Scotia bank at the same time and was paying $100/month in banking fees alone. They are making quite a pretty penny off of people.

Good for Canada though. I hope for my family and friend's sake it doesn't get too bad.

I hope so too!

$100 a month, omg, what kind of service did you get for that!?

I know! I was like..... What the heck?!!!!! I bank with TD/Canada Trust and don't pay any service fees. LOL

Me too!

[thetreble 19]

Well both banks charged me for x-number of transactions a month. It was like 30 transactions a month and if you went over that, you were charged PER transaction. The 30 transactions cost me 15 -20 bucks from each bank, then for each single one over that. It may not have been quite 100 in the end, but it was darn expensive for just banking at a bank. They are making money off your money, ff sake!

[trailmix 77]

Well both banks charged me for x-number of transactions a month. It was like 30 transactions a month and if you went over that, you were charged PER transaction. The 30 transactions cost me 15 -20 bucks from each bank, then for each single one over that. It may not have been quite 100 in the end, but it was darn expensive for just banking at a bank. They are making money off your money, ff sake!

Well you had the wrong account! They do have awful accounts where you can only have 4 transactions a month, or thereabouts and then they start to charge you for each one. Unbeknownst to me I had that account with the RBC in Canada (surprise!). After we had been here a few months I noticed they charged me an additional $8 in fees for 2 transactions I think - fixed that and got my $8 back!

Edited February 9, 2009 by trailmix

[thetreble 19]

Nice.

Well the CIBC account I had I got when I was 15 so who knows what it was. In fact, When I was 20 years old I had to go through a whole lot of ####### just to get my mother's name taken off my account. It was ridiculous.

[Krikit 1,163]

Yeah, they can get real crafty with their "service" fees. I always dispute them if I see them. They'll usually reimburse you.

[trailmix 77]

Well speaking of financial comparisons, I have been sitting here this morning doing an analysis of our U.S. income and expenses vs our Canadian income and expenses. Work out for the brain.

Edited February 9, 2009 by trailmix

[Krikit 1,163]

Well speaking of financial comparisons, I have been sitting here this morning doing an analysis of our U.S. income and expenses vs our Canadian income and expenses. Work out for the brain.

I try not to dwell on that. It hurts too much.