Most Canadians Are Now Better Off Than Most Americans • Hacker News Board

Re: Most Canadians Are Now Better Off Than Most Americans

#51

Post by lgeorget » Fri, Aug 30, 2019, 5:48 PM UTC

Mikeb85 wrote: post #41

refurb wrote: post #4

Canadians have been gorging themselves on debt for the past decade. Far higher than other OCED countries. That's left them in a very precarious situation.[1] [1] https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/24/canadas-household-debt-level...

I wouldn't say it's that precarious. Interest rates are near all-time lows and banks here are risk-averse, meaning they don't give out risky loans. Edit - also secured loans are less risky than unsecured loans. Your article includes housing in 'debt'.

Is a loan deemed not risky by the bank necessarily not risky for the loaner? (That's a genuine question, I have no clue)

Re: Most Canadians Are Now Better Off Than Most Americans

#52

Post by PhasmaFelis » Fri, Aug 30, 2019, 5:48 PM UTC

homonculus1 wrote: post #27

lostgame wrote: post #5

[flagged]

I sympathize with the frustration of unelaborated downvotes, but you've pretty much run the gamut of political flame-bait here.

Most of what she said is purely factual. It's not her fault if the truth is "political flamebait."

Re: Most Canadians Are Now Better Off Than Most Americans

#53

Post by topkai22 » Fri, Aug 30, 2019, 5:50 PM UTC

I wonder how much this has to do to with immigration and immigration policy. The US and Canada have both been very open to migrants since the at least the 80s (current US administration exempted), but Canada has aggressively pursued attracting high skill foreign born workers while the US has not. I know US foreign born average earnings are substantially below native born earnings, but I couldn't quickly find similar statistics for Canada

Re: Most Canadians Are Now Better Off Than Most Americans

#54

Post by mikeash » Fri, Aug 30, 2019, 5:50 PM UTC

grecy wrote: post #18

product50 wrote: post #3

And then you realize that the population of Canada is 10% of US. Canada should be compared to the Nordic countries vs. US in terms of quality of life etc.

I have never understood why people assume that just because the US is bigger than other OECD countries that it can't have the same levels of happiness, or the same quality/cost of healthcare and education etc. Why do you think the US should aim lower simply because it has more people? Why don't you think per-capita comparisons are valid? If anything, the US should be better than smaller OECD countries because it gets…

Taking it further, does this mean we should break the country into a bunch of small ones so we can all be better off?

Re: Most Canadians Are Now Better Off Than Most Americans

#55

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Aug 30, 2019, 5:52 PM UTC

vkou wrote: post #35

refurb wrote: post #4

Canadians have been gorging themselves on debt for the past decade. Far higher than other OCED countries. That's left them in a very precarious situation.[1] [1] https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/24/canadas-household-debt-level...

They've been going into debt in order to buy housing, not on other forms of consumer spending or 'living beyond their means'. Who sells them housing? Other Canadians. Why do they go into so much debt? Because the nature of housing is that rising prices will squeeze out every last cent of saved money from the pockets of people trying to buy their first house. It boggles my mind that the average house in Vancouver or T…

[deleted]

Re: Most Canadians Are Now Better Off Than Most Americans

#56

Post by imedadel » Fri, Aug 30, 2019, 5:52 PM UTC

Archived link: https://archive.fo/20190829140749/https://www.bloomberg.com/...

You can use this chrome extension to easily get the archived page: https://github.com/ImedAdel/arkiv/releases

Re: Most Canadians Are Now Better Off Than Most Americans

#57

Post by klyrs » Fri, Aug 30, 2019, 5:53 PM UTC

lostgame wrote: post #5

[flagged]

> Most of us up here are simply grateful not to be in the USA - since Trump, ICE, et cetera - not to mention free health care, here, which Trump made every effort to destroy.

Contrast Trump with the Ford dynasty, and the PPC. Populism is sharply rising. I work in a riding where a candidate (LLTT) ran on an explicitly anti-trans, anti-immigration platform and rallies with open white supremacists. It's Trump's brand of hatred with a sheen of professionalism that Trump will never manage. That should scare you.

Contrast ICE with the genocide of first nations, where indigenous women are still being sterilized against their will.

Yes we have health care, but the mental health care in this country is almost nonexistent. And when you enter that system while trans, good fucking luck, sister. I know.

Having lived in both countries. Both have an immense amount of pride. But Canadians, by and large, are too "polite" to speak out. Except for the proto-nazis, I guess

Re: Most Canadians Are Now Better Off Than Most Americans

#58

Post by AstralStorm » Fri, Aug 30, 2019, 5:53 PM UTC

lgeorget wrote: post #51

Mikeb85 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't say it's that precarious. Interest rates are near all-time lows and banks here are risk-averse, meaning they don't give out risky loans. Edit - also secured loans are less risky than unsecured loans. Your article includes housing in 'debt'.

Is a loan deemed not risky by the bank necessarily not risky for the loaner? (That's a genuine question, I have no clue)

No. Banks have a much higher risk threshold and can repossession you. They are diversified, have qualified financial staff (mostly) and more.

Neutral side is generally considered "best effort" in the axis.

Re: Most Canadians Are Now Better Off Than Most Americans

#59

Post by ska » Fri, Aug 30, 2019, 5:54 PM UTC

Ididntdothis wrote: post #49

ska wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But that would apply even more to Canada then, no? Or did I misunderstand what you mean?

Not with smaller population size :). Maybe colder climate makes people happy?

Not really, as it depends on distribution as well.

They actually aren't that different (distribution-wise) in many places, although obviously Canada has a lot more parts where people are really spread out. Because most of Canada's population lives in the southern 10% or less, there are many regions where density of infrastructure & people looks kinda-sorta-the same. Obviously there are exceptions, and only one large city, etc.

Re: Most Canadians Are Now Better Off Than Most Americans

#60

Post by refurb » Fri, Aug 30, 2019, 5:54 PM UTC

vkou wrote: post #35

refurb wrote: post #4

Canadians have been gorging themselves on debt for the past decade. Far higher than other OCED countries. That's left them in a very precarious situation.[1] [1] https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/24/canadas-household-debt-level...

They've been going into debt in order to buy housing, not on other forms of consumer spending or 'living beyond their means'. Who sells them housing? Other Canadians. Why do they go into so much debt? Because the nature of housing is that rising prices will squeeze out every last cent of saved money from the pockets of people trying to buy their first house. It boggles my mind that the average house in Vancouver or T…

The growth of HELOCS has been >7% for the past few years and the Bank of Canada (BOC) is starting to get worried. Canadians are not only taking on debt to buy housing, they are also leveraging housing equity for other expenses as well.[1]

BoC staff add that, “Home equity extraction may also be concealing emerging financial distress if borrowers are taking equity out of their homes to manage other debt obligations or to finance their daily expenses because they lack other sources of funds.”

[1]https://www.ratespy.com/heloc-growth-isnt-what-everyone-thou...