![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Guess which country, alone in the industrialized world, has not faced a single bank failure, calls for bailouts or government intervention in the financial or mortgage sectors. Yup, it's Canada. In 2008, the World Economic Forum ranked Canada's banking system the healthiest in the world. America's ranked 40th, Britain's 44th.
Canada has done more than survive this financial crisis. The country is positively thriving in it. Canadian banks are well capitalized and poised to take advantage of opportunities that American and European banks cannot seize. The Toronto Dominion Bank, for example, was the 15th-largest bank in North America one year ago. Now it is the fifth-largest. It hasn't grown in size; the others have all shrunk.
So what accounts for the genius of the Canadians? Common sense. Over the past 15 years, as the United States and Europe loosened regulations on their financial industries, the Canadians refused to follow suit, seeing the old rules as useful shock absorbers. Canadian banks are typically leveraged at 18 to 1—compared with U.S. banks at 26 to 1 and European banks at a frightening 61 to 1. Partly this reflects Canada's more risk-averse business culture, but it is also a product of old-fashioned rules on banking.
-- Fareed Zakaria for Newsweek
Now that hurts. I suppose that pretty soon Canada may see all of us as just sort of one big Mexico. Now if only I could marry a Canadian; I could have both health care and a functioning economy.
Canada has done more than survive this financial crisis. The country is positively thriving in it. Canadian banks are well capitalized and poised to take advantage of opportunities that American and European banks cannot seize. The Toronto Dominion Bank, for example, was the 15th-largest bank in North America one year ago. Now it is the fifth-largest. It hasn't grown in size; the others have all shrunk.
So what accounts for the genius of the Canadians? Common sense. Over the past 15 years, as the United States and Europe loosened regulations on their financial industries, the Canadians refused to follow suit, seeing the old rules as useful shock absorbers. Canadian banks are typically leveraged at 18 to 1—compared with U.S. banks at 26 to 1 and European banks at a frightening 61 to 1. Partly this reflects Canada's more risk-averse business culture, but it is also a product of old-fashioned rules on banking.
-- Fareed Zakaria for Newsweek
Now that hurts. I suppose that pretty soon Canada may see all of us as just sort of one big Mexico. Now if only I could marry a Canadian; I could have both health care and a functioning economy.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Petrodollar
Date: 2009-02-12 01:14 pm (UTC)From:USA is still the life of the party - as long as the petrodollar dominates.
You are being too self-critical. It is hard for anyone to let go of the beer bong, when one's asshole friends, and that pretty girl in the corner, are yelling, ``Chug! Chug! Chug!'' Our ``morlock'' economies depend you guys continuing to guzzle our goods and over-spend.
Because dollars are still the world's reserve currency (64% anyway), it might OK not to worry too much about excessive borrowing/printing of money, to bail out your banks.
I am no economist, but I think you should worry a little bit when:
your best bud (who usually picked up your tab), suddenly gets cold feet (Now this is bad).
Re: Petrodollar
Date: 2009-02-12 03:04 pm (UTC)From:This has got to be great, though, for the likes of a bin Laden. He couldn't hope to mess us up as much as we have done to ourselves, though he can take credit for helping, because without his 9/11 attack, Dubya would never have been given as much leeway as he had.
Speaking of which, the petrodollar cuts both ways at best, since more oil money favors Islamicist forces as well as the authoritarian impulses of Russia. I didn't read all of that article, but I think I have come across some discussion that OPEC is ocnsidering moving to the euro anyway, which would certainly hurt more than that diva's snobbery.
In sum, worrying is probably the best prescription about now.
Re: Petrodollar
Date: 2009-02-12 04:04 pm (UTC)From:In other news, you may need to move fast to grab that Canadian sugar-mama. This recession has caused a jump in the number of folks visiting online dating sites :-)