81–90 of 160 posts
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…
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It's not that simple, really. Although for some comparisons you are probably correct, in other ways they are a very natural pairing. For all their differences, in many other ways Canada and the USA are much more like each other than either are like any other country.
Canada and Australia are the only two countries with the population of over 20 million that are ranked higher than the USA in the OECD Better Life Index[1]. Therefore, it's safe to assume that the size of the country makes a huge difference in such rankings. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OECD_Better_Life_Index
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1. Health Care - Anecdotally, I've known people who moved down to the US from Canada because they could no longer receive care (or timely care). Of course, these specific individuals were elderly, but take from that what you will. Also, I've read that the U.S. pours more money than any other country into medical research (though I could be wrong about that).
2. Gun Violence - As always, the picture painted of the U.S. as being some sort of warzone where you are constantly afraid of being shot is just...false. The vast majority of the U.S. has the homocide rate of Switzerland (a country with many guns and low crime). There are generally just a few pockets of insane levels of violence related to the drug trade. As for suicide, it is an issue, but there are other first world countries that have few guns but comparable levels (e.g. South Korea) that your source fails to mention.
3. Homelessness is an issue, and I honestly don't know what the reason for the difference is between Toronto and Chicago. For California, climate may be a factor, but it definitely seems to have become worse in recent years.
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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.
And if there's a crisis large enough that solvency of CMHC might be questionable, they don't have to worry either because the bank of Canada will gladly buy their mortgages, passing the risk onto taxpayers.
https://www.macleans.ca/economy/business/the-real-canadian-b...
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Canada's immigration rate (of legal immigrants) is higher than the US'. We take in nearly twice as many immigrants as the US, relative to our population.
Canada is known for being very accepting of middle class and educated or skilled immigrants. Poor immigrants (which is what the original comment was specifying) not so much, and Canada's border enforcement is more effective than that of the US.
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Canada's immigration rate (of legal immigrants) is higher than the US'. We take in nearly twice as many immigrants as the US, relative to our population.
Yes, but much of Canada's immigration is points based - i.e. you get well educated, employable people. The vast majority of US immigration is family based where your elderly grandmother from back home can come and live in the US.
Canada is tremendously better than the USA if you're young (18 to 30 years old). I had the shittiest life in the USA, was born in Canada but parents moved to USA and when I was seven years old; parents were lower-middle class for context. I've only managed to move back to Canada a few years ago and I wish I never would go to the USA ever again if I could live life over. Canada has free healthcare and I'm a transgende…
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…
You see this even with relatively boring policy, like setting a national speed limit for driving.
This does not imply that local policy is always effective in the US, the reality is that it varies widely depending on where you live in the US and must also operate within certain practical and legal constraints. There are also many perverse interactions between national policy and state policy.
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Mortgage interest is deductible. It lets you take on more house or refinance high interest debt.
Mortgage interest is not tax-deductible in Canada.
It seems to me that this difference favors landlords over owner-occupants when it comes to buying property [which does not seem to be beneficial public policy]. With interest rates as low as they are, this is maybe only a medium-sized problem, but when interest rates rise again, this is likely going to exacerbate the difficulty of people beginning their home ownership "ladder" because landlords can literally outbid them by the difference in tax policy.
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How is USA health care not being free untrue? Furthermore, I actually had to search, you're putting words in my mouth and misquoting me, there - I never, ever, said, anything along the lines 'in no way, shape or form is it free'. I'm aware of insurance, I lived there, I'm not dumb, and I don't appreciate people misquoting me, or putting words in my mouth, thanks. I lived there, I would know...that's not something I t…
> ICE is one of the biggest crimes against humanity that is still ongoing. It's hard to take you seriously when you say stuff like this. Kids in cages is bad but pick up a history book and you will find much much much worse. I can point to number events going on right now or recent memory that are worse. > I hear horror stories every other day. No, you don't. Stop being Miss Hyperbole and people will take you serious…
TANSTAAFL.
Also, it is a finite resource, and like all finite resources must be rationed in some manner. I'm saying I like how the U.S. health care system works, but I also don't think the only alternative is to have it government run.