Interesting New York Times article today: Log In - The New York Times This is how our news headlines it: "Canada’s middle class richest in world: report" Canada’s middle class richest in world: report - National | Globalnews.caThree reasons are listed: "Three broad factors appear to be driving much of the weak income performance in the United States. First, educational attainment in the United States has risen far more slowly than in much of the industrialized world over the last three decades, making it harder for the American economy to maintain its share of highly skilled, well-paying jobs." "A second factor is that companies in the United States economy distribute a smaller share of their bounty to the middle class and poor than similar companies elsewhere. Top executives make substantially more money in the United States than in other wealthy countries. The minimum wage is lower. Labor unions are weaker." "Finally, governments in Canada and Western Europe take more aggressive steps to raise the take-home pay of low- and middle-income households by redistributing income."
The trouble with 'studies' and the press is that they'll 'prove' all sorts of ridiculous stuff, coincidentally this was a headline today in the U.S.: 1-in-3-canadians-suffered-some-form-of-child-abuse-linked-to-mental-disorders
Canada has always suffered from some sort of "inferiority complex" (real or not) when compared to the United States, and you practically cannot have a conversation about policy that at some point doesn't devolve into comparisons with the US and "how much better off" we are in Canada. It is actually kind of understandable in that both Canada and the US have a common heritage and are a lot more alike than many care to admit, but the US with its much larger population and influence on the world stage tends to dominate, leaving others feeling somewhat in the shadows. Fortunately for me with my dual American and Canadian citizenship, I don't have to pick sides
I'd love to step into the shadows for better health and human services here in the US. And the effective tax rate the wealthiest corporations and individuals pay in this country is a little ridiculous.
Stated by, whom I would argue, might be the smartest man in the room. Nothing against the others, of course.