Why is Canada so poor OT

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Looking at the economic stats, GDP $ per head pop.

approx UK 19,500 Italy 19,800 France 26,500 Germany 27,000 USA 26,500 Canada 19,500 NZ 15,500

Down with the European underperformers, I would have expected to see Canada at least on a par with the US, especially considering its small population. Why? PS (I know why the UK economy has always been in the doldrums).

-- Sir R (richard.dale@unum.co.uk), December 22, 1999

Answers

Canada is a socialist country. The largest employer is the federal Government.

-- Earl (eshuholm@tstar.net), December 22, 1999.

Good question. Of course, GDP is just one side of the national wealth coin. The other side is where does the added value of that "product" go? Think balance of trade, and who controls the profits that these busy little workers produce.

Example: There are now no UK owned car manufacturers of any significance. OK, much of the profits do get plowed back into the UK just now, but the USA, Germany, France and Japan could just as easily plunder or kill off these "foreign" plants if, oh, just for example, they suddenly found themselves having global supply problems.

Maybe Canada just spends more internally. Anyone know?

-- Servant (public_service@yahoo.com), December 22, 1999.


So you know why the UK economy has always been in the doldrums? Do please tell, I'm dying to know. Probably better write to gordan@exchequer.gov.uk as well.

Hey, there's a CIA World Factbook on the web! A quick summary of everywhere from Afganistan to Zimbabwe. Their GDP figures come out a little different from those above but then I suppose there are 20 different ways of counting these things (plus: it's the CIA for christsakes!).

-- Man on Clapham omnibus (man@clapham.bus), December 22, 1999.


Canadians are taxed to death. The top tax bracket of about 50% (federal and provincial) kicks in at a paltry $60,000 salary level, compared to the U.S. top bracket kicking in at, what, about US$270,000? Canada is in effect a socialist state and has been since Trudeau came to power in the 1960s. There is too much redundant government: federal, provincial and municipal. All this is discussed in the new magazine, The Wealthy Boomer (details: www.wealthyboomer.com).

-- Jonathan Chevreau (jchevreau@nationalpost.com), December 22, 1999.

Canada is regarded by most of the world as a Resource producer - oil, natural gas, seed-grains/oils, minerals/ores, timber - even though we are fairly technologically advanced in small-medium businesses.

I would imagine as the price of oil goes up and stays up, our GDP will look a lot better....though the oil-importing countries will not be quite so happy about that. The high taxes imposed on us for our supposedly "FREE" Medicare and cradle to grave subsidies are enough to drive many of us south of the border in disgust.

The value of the Canadian dollar which was about $1.05 to the US$ in 1968 when I came to Canada from Australia has since dropped to $0.68 Cdn - so the good, caring liberals (both Liberals and Conservatives) who have spent us into massive debt have contributed to our smaller paychecks, along with giving away huge amounts of money to third world countries, so we can be seen as the benefactor of all mankind (except for Canadians of course). But we are suceeding in spite of the politicians.

-- Laurane (familyties@rttinc.com), December 22, 1999.



Me an economist HA!

But Canada is transforming from a resource based economy to "something", still lots of swings in sections. Alberta and Ontario both got hardliners in power and there were cuts in spending and taxes and both provinces are now booming. British Columbia stayed the course and the Asia crisis hit now we have towns that may as well close down. There was pain in both cases.

We are taxed heavily, but one hears that it is expencive in Europe so there is differances. In the Praries you can pick up houses for "dirt cheap" with land.

From what I have heard though is that Canada's productivity can't match the States. They have the drive for capitalism that has not been matched up here.

That would be it in a nutshell IMHO.

-- Brian (imager@home.com), December 22, 1999.


Snow. They spend 2/3 of their life sitting inside drinking Molson and watching hockey. :-) (only teasing, eh)

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), December 22, 1999.

GDP means sweet bugger all to put it politely........

Obviously, everything has been converted to US dollars for the comparison......and right now the Canadian dollar sits at about .68 of a US dollar.

Living in a Canadian city, and having travelled to many US cities, I can tell you that a canadian dollar here buys as much or more than a US dollar does down there for most things.

Bottom line, our cities are nicer, cleaner, less violent and wealthier that most of the US counterparts.

So whatever GDP means as an abstract number....who cares.

-- Craig (craig@ccinet.ab.ca), December 22, 1999.


Craig hit the nail right on the head. Who needs freedom if you've got bread and circuses!

-- Ron Schwarz (rs@clubvb.com.delete.this), December 22, 1999.

"""Who needs freedom if you've got bread and circuses!"""

Ron let me remind you that Canada almost broke up because of democracy in action. Not a bloody chance of that happening in the States. You guys had to go to war.

I will stick to our version of freedom.

Not to mention the imposed "freedom" that you have provided over the years to other countries for the sake of capitalism not humanity.

I sure hope that was a bad joke on your part.

-- Brian (imager@home.com), December 22, 1999.



Socialism! Pure and simple.

Socialism by any other name is still socialism. Often it hides under "Programs."

-- Not again! (seenit@ww2.com), December 22, 1999.


Very interesting to see someone with a nationalpost.com domain posting here. Only thing more startling would be a NY Times or Wash Post domain name. I am only an occasional reader of the National Post, so I don't know if Jonathan Chevreau is a reporter/columnist (rather than an editor/sub-editor etc.).

To give you a little background, The National Post is a recently launched national newspaper in Canada. It is owned by Conrad Black, who also owns the London Daily Telegraph and the Jerusalem Post, amongst many other newspapers. Old Conrad is considered fairly right- wing in Canada, but would only be moderately right wing in Britain or the States.

-- Johnny Canuck (j_canuck@hotmail.com), December 23, 1999.


Johnny

Good catch, one thing is for sure Jonathan is not a "3 day" polly.

 National Post Online - financialpost

-- Brian (imager@home.com), December 23, 1999.


I wish I could remeber the "exact" figures, but if I'm not mistaken, something like five percent of the U.S. population has over fifty percent of the wealth. If you don't include these billionaires in the average, it brings out per capita income down by almost one half. I don't know if that affects the GNP or not though.

ALK

-- Al K. Lloyd (all@ready.now), December 23, 1999.


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