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Why Canada Is Able to Do Things Better

theatlantic.com

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Re: Why Canada Is Able to Do Things Better

#11

Post by wvenable »

jjawssd wrote: post #3

> Denmark, with a tax burden of 49.6 percent, stands atop the OECD index. It also happens to be a wonderful place to live, with a high standard of living funded by a diversified, high-tech, export-driven economy. Denmark is NOT a wonderful place to live. It is a stable society where everyone is equally poor except the tax dodgers. Furthermore, the climate is more bleak than Seattle. This article makes Denmark seem li…

There's basically a single statement about Denmark and it merely an example that a high tax burden isn't universally harmful. A reasonable counterexample would be a country with a high tax rate that is in terrible conditions caused by it rather than pointing out that Denmark isn't perfect (which is a straw man argument in the first place).

There conflation of paying taxes and "more government" is also on display on in this comment that isn't true. You can have a large poor government or a large well funded government.

I think ultimately the article makes a good point about Canadian's attitude towards taxation and services. Canadian's understand that you get what you pay for. If you want nothing then pay nothing but that means you get poor schools, crumbling roads, and crippling healthcare bills.

Re: Why Canada Is Able to Do Things Better

#12

Post by bkohlmann »

This argument has always interested me:

"Because Canadian entrepreneurs can quit their day jobs without their spouse losing access to dialysis, or their children losing access to pediatricians, such a system allows business-builders more professional freedom."

Does the data show that countries with single payer, or even individual-based (not employer) health care, have greater percentages of entrepreneurs? How about overall entrepreneurial outcomes?

Re: Why Canada Is Able to Do Things Better

#13

Post by bryanlarsen »

strictnein wrote: post #5

> "Much of the surrounding road and rail infrastructure is in even worse shape (the trip from LaGuardia Airport to midtown Manhattan being particularly appalling). Washington, D.C.’s semi-functional subway system feels like a World’s Fair exhibit that someone forgot to close down. " Yes, those low tax, anti-government strongholds of NYC and DC are great examples of how more taxes will solve everything.

"low tax, anti-government strongholds of NYC and DC"

Compared to the author's Ontario, Canada? Yes, they are.

Re: Why Canada Is Able to Do Things Better

#14

Post by jbob2000 »

mabbo wrote: post #2

If this article inspires anyone to finally move to Canada, there's lots of startups here in Toronto that are hiring. Also Amazon is hoping to fill 200 more desks this year in their Toronto office and Google is nearby in Waterloo. Happy to help anyone interested.

As an addendum; the bar is extremely low for developers in Canada. If you show up on time, smell nice, and put on a smile, you will be lauded with awards, compliments, raises, and time off.

Re: Why Canada Is Able to Do Things Better

#15

Post by Mikeb85 »

Canada is far from perfect. We too have infrastructure deficits, the city I live in suffers from incompetent city planning (although recently it's gotten better), our house prices are insane, and the cost of living is very high.

That being said, the one thing I think Canada does 100x better is politics. Mainly because Canadians generally don't 'belong' to a political party or movement. Almost everyone here will vote almost any direction, depending on the issues at hand and happiness with the status quo. Identity politics is also non-existent here. This leads to a political class which is somewhat more pragmatic, less ideological, and certainly less extreme.

Also, at lower levels of government, politicians are more likely to be unaligned with any party, and at the provincial level the political parties vary by province and most aren't aligned with the federal parties.

So in general, I'd say Canada's advantage is simply that politics isn't as stratified. But again, while our country is amazing IMO, it's not perfect.

Re: Why Canada Is Able to Do Things Better

#16

Post by DKnoll »

strictnein wrote: post #5

> "Much of the surrounding road and rail infrastructure is in even worse shape (the trip from LaGuardia Airport to midtown Manhattan being particularly appalling). Washington, D.C.’s semi-functional subway system feels like a World’s Fair exhibit that someone forgot to close down. " Yes, those low tax, anti-government strongholds of NYC and DC are great examples of how more taxes will solve everything.

Adjusting for the exchange rate and using my own salary as a test, my income tax in Ontario is double that of somebody living in NYC.

Also our sales tax is 13% in Ontario versus 8.875% in NYC.

From what I can tell residential property tax rates are pretty similar.

Re: Why Canada Is Able to Do Things Better

#17

Post by Sodman »

jjawssd wrote: post #3

> Denmark, with a tax burden of 49.6 percent, stands atop the OECD index. It also happens to be a wonderful place to live, with a high standard of living funded by a diversified, high-tech, export-driven economy. Denmark is NOT a wonderful place to live. It is a stable society where everyone is equally poor except the tax dodgers. Furthermore, the climate is more bleak than Seattle. This article makes Denmark seem li…

Except that Denmark was named the "Happiest Country to live" in 2016, and got 2nd Happiest country to live in 2017[0].

From the article, this is based on:

-social happiness

-freedom to make life decisions

-generosity & social support

-good governance & public trust

-honesty

-health & life Expectancy

-income & income inequality

-GDP per capita

[0]United Nations World Happiness report http://worldhappiness.report/

Re: Why Canada Is Able to Do Things Better

#18

Post by Newtopian »

holydude wrote: post #6
jjawssd wrote: post #3

> Denmark, with a tax burden of 49.6 percent, stands atop the OECD index. It also happens to be a wonderful place to live, with a high standard of living funded by a diversified, high-tech, export-driven economy. Denmark is NOT a wonderful place to live. It is a stable society where everyone is equally poor except the tax dodgers. Furthermore, the climate is more bleak than Seattle. This article makes Denmark seem li…

This thousand times. Socialism is an illusion. People should be able to pick their poison but please do not try to put one system above other.

"Socialism is an illusion" ... " please do not try to put one system above other"

I guess then it's ok to put one below...

Re: Why Canada Is Able to Do Things Better

#19

Post by strictnein »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #13
strictnein wrote: post #5

> "Much of the surrounding road and rail infrastructure is in even worse shape (the trip from LaGuardia Airport to midtown Manhattan being particularly appalling). Washington, D.C.’s semi-functional subway system feels like a World’s Fair exhibit that someone forgot to close down. " Yes, those low tax, anti-government strongholds of NYC and DC are great examples of how more taxes will solve everything.

"low tax, anti-government strongholds of NYC and DC" Compared to the author's Ontario, Canada? Yes, they are.

Put $100k into each of these:

http://www.ey.com/ca/en/services/tax/tax-calculators-2017-pe...

https://smartasset.com/taxes/new-york-tax-calculator#iCk2xoX...

Then add another ~3.5% for living in NYC. There's at worst on almost equal footing. More than likely the person in NYC will pay more.

Re: Why Canada Is Able to Do Things Better

#20

Post by Cuuugi »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #13
strictnein wrote: post #5

> "Much of the surrounding road and rail infrastructure is in even worse shape (the trip from LaGuardia Airport to midtown Manhattan being particularly appalling). Washington, D.C.’s semi-functional subway system feels like a World’s Fair exhibit that someone forgot to close down. " Yes, those low tax, anti-government strongholds of NYC and DC are great examples of how more taxes will solve everything.

"low tax, anti-government strongholds of NYC and DC" Compared to the author's Ontario, Canada? Yes, they are.

Ontario has the largest non-sovereign debt anywhere. In the world... If you are looking for example for a solid economic policy Ontario should be the farthest thing from.

http://business.financialpost.com/news/economy/with-twice-th...

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