Why is America so rich?

[rb]

Does Canada still give full pension to people that immigrate? ( like social security + medicare )

Yes and no to your question in parts.

 

If you are a Canadian resident you get full healthcare (medicare).

 

In regards to pension not really and I'm not sure they ever did. There are 3 parts. Old age security - this is based on how many years you've lived in Canada between 18 and 65. So if you're Johnny come lately you don't really get much. Second is Canada Pension Plan which is based on payroll deductions - sort of like SS in the US - so if you haven't worked here you don't get any of that either. The third is Guaranteed Income Supplement. This is mainly aid for low income seniors. It is means tested and mainly phased out around 18K global income. So basically if you haven't lived and contributed here you don't really get a pension.

[Desert_Rat]

America is rich, but americans are poor.

 

Top 1% owns 35% of wealth; bottom 60% owns 4% of the wealth. It is like calling a dictator run sub-saharan African country rich, where the dictator has billions stashed in swiss banks and rest of the country are having a hand to mouth existence.

 

Compared to their european counterparts, an average american has a substandard living, lower mobility, poor access to health care, lower life expectancy, higher gun deaths etc.

 

An average american is just an economic slave with little prospect, no upward mobility,  just given a daily dose of American exceptionalism, freedom, guns and religion and gets fucked in every orifice of his body by predatory, rapacious & unbridled capitalism. As an immigrant, I sometimes feel sorry for them. This wont end well in the long run.

 

This is complete commie hogwash. That the richest Americans exist does not discount the truth that all of 'us' have been granted the ability to become very, very comfortable if we're up to it. I won't condemn those who worked smarter, studied harder or strived for goals far greater than I have had, I'll just feel fortunate to live in a country where what I put in I got out. There are very few places on this globe like that, to find them just Google 'capitalist societies'. You'll find that we're all doing just fine, thank you.

 

 

 

[Desert_Rat]

Does Canada still give full pension to people that immigrate? ( like social security + medicare )

Yes and no to your question in parts.

 

If you are a Canadian resident you get full healthcare (medicare).

 

In regards to pension not really and I'm not sure they ever did. There are 3 parts. Old age security - this is based on how many years you've lived in Canada between 18 and 65. So if you're Johnny come lately you don't really get much. Second is Canada Pension Plan which is based on payroll deductions - sort of like SS in the US - so if you haven't worked here you don't get any of that either. The third is Guaranteed Income Supplement. This is mainly aid for low income seniors. It is means tested and mainly phased out around 18K global income. So basically if you haven't lived and contributed here you don't really get a pension.

 

What?? Are you saying that Canada does not offer full social benefits to any Joe Blow who illegally crosses their border? Unacceptable! Where do I go to scream injustice and break windows and stuff like a lunatic?

 

[rb]

Since we're sharing immigration stories on this thread let me share mine as an immigrant to Canada.

 

In the late 90s my family decided to emigrate. We said to the Canadian government we would like to emigrate to Canada. The Canadian government said ok. We flew to Pearson airport (Toronto). There they stamped our passports and we were in. Once we were in my parents (I was still a teenager) applied for jobs. Jobs were a bit dicey in the beginning but both of my parents found jobs withing 9 months. My mom at a sketchy web design company for $17 an hour and my dad at GE for $20 an hour. Both lost their jobs withing 18 months (recession and everything) and had to start the whole painful process all over again but they found new jobs. Now my mom is lead software architect at a development company and my dad is an engineer at a large auto parts manufacturer. Both make comfortable 6 figure incomes.

 

Me and my two sisters were educated here and went to university. Our undergrad cost around 5k a year. They were paid by my parents from "general funds". One of my sisters is an accountant with the big 4, the other is a project manager at a large Canadian pharma. After undergrad I did a grad degree at one of those fancy business schools where you have a lot of people are called the III or the IV but my parents didn't pay for that. Today I'm an investment manager.

 

Me and my sisters all make in excess of 6 figures. We never had to hide from the Canadian equivalent of ICE or INS or from any lettered agency - there was no reason to. The only person in my family that had to work 80 hours a week was me when I worked corp dev and M&A in London and while I feel I was gypped the comp was well above minimum wage.

 

Compared to other stories posted here mine is down right boring. Maybe it's the Canadian way. But I don't wish to trade places with the other posters and in my family nobody is sorry that we emigrated to Canada instead of the US. Make of this what you wish.

[Desert_Rat]

Since we're sharing immigration stories on this thread let me share mine as an immigrant to Canada.

 

In the late 90s my family decided to emigrate. We said to the Canadian government we would like to emigrate to Canada. The Canadian government said ok. We flew to Pearson airport (Toronto). There they stamped our passports and we were in. Once we were in my parents (I was still a teenager) applied for jobs. Jobs were a bit dicey in the beginning but both of my parents found jobs withing 9 months. My mom at a sketchy web design company for $17 an hour and my dad at GE for $20 an hour. Both lost their jobs withing 18 months (recession and everything) and had to start the whole painful process all over again but they found new jobs. Now my mom is lead software architect at a development company and my dad is an engineer at a large auto parts manufacturer. Both make comfortable 6 figure incomes.

 

Me and my two sisters were educated here and went to university. Our undergrad cost around 5k a year. They were paid by my parents from "general funds". One of my sisters is an accountant with the big 4, the other is a project manager at a large Canadian pharma. After undergrad I did a grad degree at one of those fancy business schools where you have a lot of people are called the III or the IV but my parents didn't pay for that. Today I'm an investment manager.

 

Me and my sisters all make in excess of 6 figures. We never had to hide from the Canadian equivalent of ICE or INS or from any lettered agency - there was no reason to. The only person in my family that had to work 80 hours a week was me when I worked corp dev and M&A in London and while I feel I was gypped the comp was well above minimum wage.

 

Compared to other stories posted here mine is down right boring. Maybe it's the Canadian way. But I don't wish to trade places with the other posters and in my family nobody is sorry that we emigrated to Canada instead of the US. Make of this what you wish.

 

Great story, happy for you and family. I could repeat as my own escaped Nazi ghetto and were equally accepted, but more importantly the similarity is that both asked, both become citizens, and both enjoyed the fruits of their original decision.

 

[rb]

Great story, happy for you and family. I could repeat as my own escaped Nazi ghetto and were equally accepted, but more importantly the similarity is that both asked, both become citizens, and both enjoyed the fruits of their original decision.

This is a good point since everyone is talking about asking. Currently in the US do you give people the option to ask? If so please send me to the place where you ask. If not please stop talking about asking.

[Desert_Rat]

Ok, apply, than.

 

America accepts 3 times more immigrants than Canada, on average.

[rb]

Ok, apply, than.

 

America accepts 3 times more immigrants than Canada, on average.

That may be though Canada is about 1/10 the size of America so we're getting back to that numbers thingy.

 

I am a highly educated and well off individual. Where is that link where I ask and apply to come to America though?

[Desert_Rat]

Canada is not 1/10th the size of America. it's actually larger. As far as admittance into America I don't think we're accepting any more Canadians until our interest in hockey increases.

 

 

 

[rb]

Yea, still waiting for that link smartass

[Desert_Rat]

Canada's solution to national defense:

 

http://media.mlive.com/sportsnow_impact/photo/9235654-large.jpg

 

J/K  :)

 

 

[rb]

Very mature. Now wonder why my family isn't sorry about why we didn't choose to emigrate to the US.

[Paarslaars]

Well who knows, with global warming Canada might become the new Florida :)

 

I do believe social security is a much stronger reason for immigration than the weather.

Why else would most Syrian immigrants insist on traveling from Greece to Germany and Britain?

 

Immigration to the U.S. is also not that easy these days unless you win that green card lottery (small chance) or find a U.S. employer (doable but getting more difficult, especially without a nice diploma).

 

[TwoCitiesCapital]

Canada is not 1/10th the size of America. it's actually larger. As far as admittance into America I don't think we're accepting any more Canadians until our interest in hockey increases.

??? ???

 

I think it was clear that he was talking about population size and not land mass...

 

So, relative to its population, if Canada is 1/10th the size, but accepts 1/3 the number of immigrants, it's accepting a larger relative proportion of immigrants.

 

I don't know the truth of that statement - simply explaining it how it was intended.

 

[John Hjorth]

... Compared to other stories posted here mine is down right boring. ...

 

Not at all, rb,

 

at least not to me - I actually find these family stories here on CoBF fascinating - vey fascinating indeed.

 

Do you mind sharing your country of origin? - From another post of yours yesterday, I get the perception, that you are of European origin - I have also noted earlier, that you actually have an extraordinary general knowledge of German business, considering that you are a Canadian citizen.

[BG2008]

Guys, this isn't a pissing contest between the US and Canada.  I mostly love both countries with some slight issues (bamboo ceilings etc?  Don't know what it is? I don't bother loudly protesting it because I'm busy working). 

 

Canada is also a destination for some of the people from my hometown.  For some reason, they can't seem to accumulate wealth in Canada.  Some context is important here.  RB's parents are software developers and engineers.  Those are typically middle upper class background and training.  Let's be objective.  The fact that RB's family emigrated to Canada and they can 1) land jobs and 2) do not need to resort to washing dishes and 3) send a bunch of kids to college and 4) the kid become investment manager means that the Canadian system is working.  Now let's analyze what happens when you're a rube rice farmer from China and emigrate to Canada.  Some of my friends/relative from China who emigrated to Canada generally cited a few issues. 

 

1) The benefits are so good that it's comparable to minimum starting wages, this creates a lot of incentive to not work.  Additional hours really aren't available.  This isn't a capitalist assault on social programs.  These are feedback from people on the ground who can't seem to "work as much as they want and move up in society".   

2) None of them seems to be able to start businesses.  Capital doesn't seem to be an issue as there is a robust pool of credit among friends and family from the US.  I've just never heard of one of them saying "I'm going to open a Chinese Take Out and I need to borrow $100k"  This happened all the time in the US.  People needed to borrow money between friends and family to open a restaurant or invest in real estate.  Our relatives in Canada just never approached us.  Whatever the reason, this is indicative of some sort of either "low expected return on business" or some "high barriers to entry for startup".  I think it's good for incumbents, but tough for newcomers.  As a aggregate, it likely lead to less wealth creation.     

3) Most of my friends and relatives in Canada do not own real estate or businesses.  I doubt it is a due to foreigner restrictions.  It is more likely they simply did not accumulate enough savings to put a down payment down. 

4) Most of them would emigrate to the US if they can.  They typically emigrate to the Canada first and then attempt to move to the US since Canada has a more welcoming policy.     

 

From the take away, I think that Canada works for the engineer and software designer's family to emigrate.  But I don't hear a lot of stories where a rube farmer with a protestant or hardcore Chinese rice farmer work ethic can rise up and achieve upward mobility.  Some of the direct verbal feedback are that Canada does not have a lot of these low level entry jobs which probably point to more regulation making it hard for business to hire.  The good benefits is often cited as a reason why small business doesn't exist to provide entry level jobs.  Now these are on the ground stories, they are not controlled study by the economics departments of some reputable Canadian universities.  So you can calibrate the information yourself.  Some times I prefer on the ground stories because they convey a true sense of what's working and what's not.   

 

Not having to pay an arm and a leg for university is a major plus.  I think if you are a 3.9 GPA student and you are going to be the top 5% in your field, it doesn't matter as much to have $100k in student debt in the US. But as an aggregate, Canada likely has an upper hand in this instance. 

 

[DTEJD1997]

Hey all:

 

Living in the Detroit area, Canadians are sometimes to the SOUTH of us....

 

I know/associate/do business with MANY Canadian folk...Most of them are pretty polite, decent folk.  HOWEVER, amongst the younger ones I deal with, a lot are plotting/scheming how to get into Detroit to work/live.  They also LOVE to come shopping here.  They will make a weekend out of it and jam the car full of food, electronics, clothes...

 

I always am shocked that somebody would be trying to get INTO the Detroit area to work live.  They explain it to me that if you are established/older, Canada is a great place to be.  If you are young and trying to get established, it is very, VERY difficult.  So young talent will look elsewhere. 

 

Of course, most of the Canadians that I hear this from are from Windsor and London.

[no_free_lunch]

2) None of them seems to be able to start businesses.  Capital doesn't seem to be an issue as there is a robust pool of credit among friends and family from the US.  I've just never heard of one of them saying "I'm going to open a Chinese Take Out and I need to borrow $100k"  This happened all the time in the US.  People needed to borrow money between friends and family to open a restaurant or invest in real estate.  Our relatives in Canada just never approached us.  Whatever the reason, this is indicative of some sort of either "low expected return on business" or some "high barriers to entry for startup".  I think it's good for incumbents, but tough for newcomers.  As a aggregate, it likely lead to less wealth creation.     

 

So in Canada there are all these pathways to $80-100k careers.  Plus benefits of course.  So many options to get to those numbers.  There are quite a few options to push that out to $150k if you excel in your field as well.  All without capital risk or other business risks, just an investment in a career.  Meanwhile, when you look at owner earnings on businesses so many fail to consistently exceed that $80-100k level even with you managing the company.  That is the main problem I see in Canada.  You are generally better off to go the career route unless you are willing to own multiple small businesses or do exceptionally well.  Yes, I know there are exceptions of course but these seem to be the average numbers for businesses.  Not sure how that compares to the US.

[RichardGibbons]

2) None of them seems to be able to start businesses.  Capital doesn't seem to be an issue as there is a robust pool of credit among friends and family from the US.  I've just never heard of one of them saying "I'm going to open a Chinese Take Out and I need to borrow $100k"  This happened all the time in the US.  People needed to borrow money between friends and family to open a restaurant or invest in real estate.  Our relatives in Canada just never approached us.  Whatever the reason, this is indicative of some sort of either "low expected return on business" or some "high barriers to entry for startup".  I think it's good for incumbents, but tough for newcomers.  As a aggregate, it likely lead to less wealth creation.     

 

This is an interesting observation, considering that Canada has more businesses started per capita than the USA.  (e.g. 78K in Canada in 2014 versus 452K in 2013 in the USA.  I'd expect this just from the difference in healthcare policy--if the finances and literal survival of your family depends on you working for a large corporation that provides decent health insurance, it's pretty irresponsible to do a start-up.

 

So it makes me wonder if your observation is simply anecdotal and not representative of reality, or if Canadian immigrants do start-ups at substantially lower rates than families that have been in Canada for longer.

[oddballstocks]

2) None of them seems to be able to start businesses.  Capital doesn't seem to be an issue as there is a robust pool of credit among friends and family from the US.  I've just never heard of one of them saying "I'm going to open a Chinese Take Out and I need to borrow $100k"  This happened all the time in the US.  People needed to borrow money between friends and family to open a restaurant or invest in real estate.  Our relatives in Canada just never approached us.  Whatever the reason, this is indicative of some sort of either "low expected return on business" or some "high barriers to entry for startup".  I think it's good for incumbents, but tough for newcomers.  As a aggregate, it likely lead to less wealth creation.     

 

So in Canada there are all these pathways to $80-100k careers.  Plus benefits of course.  So many options to get to those numbers.  There are quite a few options to push that out to $150k if you excel in your field as well.  All without capital risk or other business risks, just an investment in a career.  Meanwhile, when you look at owner earnings on businesses so many fail to consistently exceed that $80-100k level even with you managing the company.  That is the main problem I see in Canada.  You are generally better off to go the career route unless you are willing to own multiple small businesses or do exceptionally well.  Yes, I know there are exceptions of course but these seem to be the average numbers for businesses.  Not sure how that compares to the US.

 

This is so fascinating to me, it completes part of the puzzle of something I'd seen while there, but couldn't put a finger on. 

 

When visiting over the past few years I had this sense, or feeling like I was in the US in the 1980s or 1990s.  People all still dress nice for work, it seemed most everyone had a nice office job.  It was this blast from the past.  But it was more then that.  I think your comment hits it.  Most Canadians have a safe income, or a higher safe income from a company.  They're medium or larger companies that provide this.  Because of this you have a very homogenous work environment, similar to what we had in the past in the US with more bigger companies.

 

Now in the US it seems we support more of a hustler mentality.  Even downtown the only people in suits are lawyers and bankers.  Places are filled most hours by people supporting themselves a variety of ways.  From working at home to stringing together jobs etc.  The freelance/entrepreneurial culture is strong, and not just in the Bay Area.  I hired some guys to put up a new fence for me.  This was a lower class guy who had a crew of neighbors and family working for him.  He did the fence cheap, he worked his own hours.  Sometimes they'd arrive at 8am, other days at noon.  Some times they'd disappear for two hours to get coffee.  The guy pulled together jobs and did alright for himself.  I have a neighbor on my street that does something similar.

 

There seems to be a lot of diversity in working situations here.  A lot of people working for themselves, or working in small groups.  I know my dad went from working for a company to just doing consulting on his own for a few years and now he's back with a company.  The go on your own route is popular.  Same with side gigs, I know a ton of people who do stuff on the side to make a few extra bucks.  I'd wager that 20-25% or more of the work force has a side gig.  Of those I'd say 90%+ are hoping the side gig turns into something real.  We're friends with a doctor and his dentist wife, they were growing shrimp in their basement for a while.  These are people making deep into the six figures each, and in their basement they had invested tens of thousands building a pool to grow fresh gulf shrimp in the north.  I asked him if the shrimp business took off what would he do, he said he'd quit being a doctor and run the shrimp thing.  Another doctor who's a neighbor runs a pool cleaning business on the side.

 

It's really like entrepreneurism is baked into our culture.  From your comment it seems that isn't the case in Canada.  People make really good money working for someone else and there's no motivation to do something on the side.  In the US it seems everyone has some moon shot project they're brewing up.  My sense from reading is that China is similar, the Chinese are doing the same things we do, and I'm guessing the outcome will be the same eventually.

 

[fareastwarriors]

2) None of them seems to be able to start businesses.  Capital doesn't seem to be an issue as there is a robust pool of credit among friends and family from the US.  I've just never heard of one of them saying "I'm going to open a Chinese Take Out and I need to borrow $100k"  This happened all the time in the US.  People needed to borrow money between friends and family to open a restaurant or invest in real estate.  Our relatives in Canada just never approached us.  Whatever the reason, this is indicative of some sort of either "low expected return on business" or some "high barriers to entry for startup".  I think it's good for incumbents, but tough for newcomers.  As a aggregate, it likely lead to less wealth creation.     

 

So in Canada there are all these pathways to $80-100k careers.  Plus benefits of course.  So many options to get to those numbers.  There are quite a few options to push that out to $150k if you excel in your field as well.  All without capital risk or other business risks, just an investment in a career.  Meanwhile, when you look at owner earnings on businesses so many fail to consistently exceed that $80-100k level even with you managing the company.  That is the main problem I see in Canada.  You are generally better off to go the career route unless you are willing to own multiple small businesses or do exceptionally well.  Yes, I know there are exceptions of course but these seem to be the average numbers for businesses.  Not sure how that compares to the US.

 

This is so fascinating to me, it completes part of the puzzle of something I'd seen while there, but couldn't put a finger on. 

 

When visiting over the past few years I had this sense, or feeling like I was in the US in the 1980s or 1990s.  People all still dress nice for work, it seemed most everyone had a nice office job.  It was this blast from the past.  But it was more then that.  I think your comment hits it.  Most Canadians have a safe income, or a higher safe income from a company.  They're medium or larger companies that provide this.  Because of this you have a very homogenous work environment, similar to what we had in the past in the US with more bigger companies.

 

Now in the US it seems we support more of a hustler mentality.  Even downtown the only people in suits are lawyers and bankers.  Places are filled most hours by people supporting themselves a variety of ways.  From working at home to stringing together jobs etc.  The freelance/entrepreneurial culture is strong, and not just in the Bay Area.  I hired some guys to put up a new fence for me.  This was a lower class guy who had a crew of neighbors and family working for him.  He did the fence cheap, he worked his own hours.  Sometimes they'd arrive at 8am, other days at noon.  Some times they'd disappear for two hours to get coffee.  The guy pulled together jobs and did alright for himself.  I have a neighbor on my street that does something similar.

 

There seems to be a lot of diversity in working situations here.  A lot of people working for themselves, or working in small groups.  I know my dad went from working for a company to just doing consulting on his own for a few years and now he's back with a company.  The go on your own route is popular.  Same with side gigs, I know a ton of people who do stuff on the side to make a few extra bucks.  I'd wager that 20-25% or more of the work force has a side gig.  Of those I'd say 90%+ are hoping the side gig turns into something real.  We're friends with a doctor and his dentist wife, they were growing shrimp in their basement for a while.  These are people making deep into the six figures each, and in their basement they had invested tens of thousands building a pool to grow fresh gulf shrimp in the north.  I asked him if the shrimp business took off what would he do, he said he'd quit being a doctor and run the shrimp thing.  Another doctor who's a neighbor runs a pool cleaning business on the side.

 

It's really like entrepreneurism is baked into our culture.  From your comment it seems that isn't the case in Canada.  People make really good money working for someone else and there's no motivation to do something on the side.  In the US it seems everyone has some moon shot project they're brewing up.  My sense from reading is that China is similar, the Chinese are doing the same things we do, and I'm guessing the outcome will be the same eventually.

 

I work in nice a job in the Bay Area. My side hustle is rentals (3 units).  ;)  I hope I can one day quit my comfy office job and run my own business (rentals or something else). 

[rb]

2) None of them seems to be able to start businesses.  Capital doesn't seem to be an issue as there is a robust pool of credit among friends and family from the US.  I've just never heard of one of them saying "I'm going to open a Chinese Take Out and I need to borrow $100k"  This happened all the time in the US.  People needed to borrow money between friends and family to open a restaurant or invest in real estate.  Our relatives in Canada just never approached us.  Whatever the reason, this is indicative of some sort of either "low expected return on business" or some "high barriers to entry for startup".  I think it's good for incumbents, but tough for newcomers.  As a aggregate, it likely lead to less wealth creation.     

 

So in Canada there are all these pathways to $80-100k careers.  Plus benefits of course.  So many options to get to those numbers.  There are quite a few options to push that out to $150k if you excel in your field as well.  All without capital risk or other business risks, just an investment in a career.  Meanwhile, when you look at owner earnings on businesses so many fail to consistently exceed that $80-100k level even with you managing the company.  That is the main problem I see in Canada.  You are generally better off to go the career route unless you are willing to own multiple small businesses or do exceptionally well.  Yes, I know there are exceptions of course but these seem to be the average numbers for businesses.  Not sure how that compares to the US.

 

This is so fascinating to me, it completes part of the puzzle of something I'd seen while there, but couldn't put a finger on. 

 

When visiting over the past few years I had this sense, or feeling like I was in the US in the 1980s or 1990s.  People all still dress nice for work, it seemed most everyone had a nice office job.  It was this blast from the past.  But it was more then that.  I think your comment hits it.  Most Canadians have a safe income, or a higher safe income from a company.  They're medium or larger companies that provide this.  Because of this you have a very homogenous work environment, similar to what we had in the past in the US with more bigger companies.

 

Now in the US it seems we support more of a hustler mentality.  Even downtown the only people in suits are lawyers and bankers.  Places are filled most hours by people supporting themselves a variety of ways.  From working at home to stringing together jobs etc.  The freelance/entrepreneurial culture is strong, and not just in the Bay Area.  I hired some guys to put up a new fence for me.  This was a lower class guy who had a crew of neighbors and family working for him.  He did the fence cheap, he worked his own hours.  Sometimes they'd arrive at 8am, other days at noon.  Some times they'd disappear for two hours to get coffee.  The guy pulled together jobs and did alright for himself.  I have a neighbor on my street that does something similar.

 

There seems to be a lot of diversity in working situations here.  A lot of people working for themselves, or working in small groups.  I know my dad went from working for a company to just doing consulting on his own for a few years and now he's back with a company.  The go on your own route is popular.  Same with side gigs, I know a ton of people who do stuff on the side to make a few extra bucks.  I'd wager that 20-25% or more of the work force has a side gig.  Of those I'd say 90%+ are hoping the side gig turns into something real.  We're friends with a doctor and his dentist wife, they were growing shrimp in their basement for a while.  These are people making deep into the six figures each, and in their basement they had invested tens of thousands building a pool to grow fresh gulf shrimp in the north.  I asked him if the shrimp business took off what would he do, he said he'd quit being a doctor and run the shrimp thing.  Another doctor who's a neighbor runs a pool cleaning business on the side.

 

It's really like entrepreneurism is baked into our culture.  From your comment it seems that isn't the case in Canada.  People make really good money working for someone else and there's no motivation to do something on the side.  In the US it seems everyone has some moon shot project they're brewing up.  My sense from reading is that China is similar, the Chinese are doing the same things we do, and I'm guessing the outcome will be the same eventually.

I actually think you guys have it wrong. I think that the situation you see with the side gigs and all comes from necessity and not so much from drive. Saying "I'm entrepreneurial" sounds a lot better than saying "I have to do this because I can't find something better". Also if you've read Richard Gibbons post you would see that Canada is very entrepreneurial as well.

 

Maybe it's the Canadian in me but I don't see the virtue in working 80 hour weeks and always be hustling when you have an option to make roughly  the same money working 40 hours and then go home and enjoy time with your family and friends. In addition if the US system is superior then you would expect to see significantly higher levels of income and wealth for Americans compared to Canadians. However the evidence doesn't support this. One exception is at the 1% level where income in the US are significantly higher than in Canada. But that doesn't matter for most people.

 

In response to BG, there are tons of Chinese restaurants, take outs, and laundries in Canada. There are no barriers to entry for this sort of stuff. You're free to open one whenever you want. The government in fact will offer you a whole bunch of incentives and tax breaks. If you want to work long hours for low pay nobody will stop you. The thing is that up here the Chinese rice farmer also has the option to go work at an auto parts factory for $20/hr + profit sharing + benefits + overtime. It's nice to have options.

[rb]

... Compared to other stories posted here mine is down right boring. ...

 

Not at all, rb,

 

at least not to me - I actually find these family stories here on CoBF fascinating - vey fascinating indeed.

 

Do you mind sharing your country of origin? - From another post of yours yesterday, I get the perception, that you are of European origin - I have also noted earlier, that you actually have an extraordinary general knowledge of German business, considering that you are a Canadian citizen.

Not at all John. I'm originally from Romania and my family moved here when I was in my teens. The fact that I lived and worked in London for a number of year I think broadened my horizon and understanding of things. But generally most of my knowledge of business has been acquired through boring old fashion studying.

[jhcap]

Getting back to the original question, I think basic geography is often forgotten in todays discussion of the economy. The land between the Appalachian mountains and the Rockies is the most fertile and productive contiguous agricultural land in the world. It is also serviced by a major navigable waterway which gravity feeds right to a major ocean port. It is no coincidence that New Orleans was fiercely fought over. Whoever controls the Mississippi basin, waterway and port will be a major economic power regardless of all other factors.

[shalab]

Rb has a very valid point, i.e., an average person in Canada, Australia or even Europe is wealthier than an average American.

 

http://money.cnn.com/2014/06/11/news/economy/middle-class-wealth/index.html

 

The U.S offers a lot of opportunities for advancement, probably more so than most countries on the planet, but the great recession set us back significantly. In addition, many U.S companies do more to citizens of other countries (to get their business) than they do in the U.S. We need our politicians to get these companies to invest more in U.S education. (probably this will never happen as the companies lobby the politicians as it is the cheaper way out)

 

... Compared to other stories posted here mine is down right boring. ...

 

Not at all, rb,

 

at least not to me - I actually find these family stories here on CoBF fascinating - vey fascinating indeed.

 

Do you mind sharing your country of origin? - From another post of yours yesterday, I get the perception, that you are of European origin - I have also noted earlier, that you actually have an extraordinary general knowledge of German business, considering that you are a Canadian citizen.

Not at all John. I'm originally from Romania and my family moved here when I was in my teens. The fact that I lived and worked in London for a number of year I think broadened my horizon and understanding of things. But generally most of my knowledge of business has been acquired through boring old fashion studying.