Canadians wealthier than Americans

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Canada v the US: we're richer, but it's an empty kind of victory
Being an average $40k better off than our US cousins should feel good – but revelling in their fall is ultimately un-Canadian

Just in time for the 200th anniversary of the war of 1812, Canada is now, for the first time in history, wealthier than the United States. Over the last five years, the average Canadian's net worth has gradually overtaken that of the average American's, to the tune of an extra $40,000 dollars per household.

The coincidence that such a statistic would materialise just as Canada celebrates the bicentennial of its first and founding war is not without significance. If you're not as familiar with the war of 1812, I'll give you a brief primer: it's the one where Canadians fought off an American invasion and burned down the White House. Before the US invaded, William Eustis, the then secretary for war, stated: "We can take the Canadas without soldiers. We have only to send officers into the provinces and the people will rally round our standard." Those words would go down in hilarious infamy after troops marched on Washington and set fire to the presidential residence. It's far more complicated than that, but for brevity's sake that's all you really need to know. Though I'm told Americans tend to disagree on who actually won the damn thing.

Despite being largely forgotten by the Americans after it was over with, the war of 1812 has become Canada's primary foundation myth; right up there with the establishment of universal healthcare, the 1972 Summit Series and the conspiracy theory that Tim Horton's coffee is laced with nicotine. But unlike US myths, which mutate to the rhythm of pop-culture trends, Canadian myths require a near-constant buttressing – which goes some way in explaining why Stephen Harper's government just spent $28m on a marketing campaign to make Canadians more aware of the war's importance.

One specific point of pride that is often tendered whenever the war of 1812 makes the news is how the conflict brought together Canada's various disparate peoples in their opposition to American annexation, beginning what would become our long march towards a gradual and politely restrained nationhood.

Since 1812 Canada has defeated the US many, many times – but most of those rematches have been limited to the ice rink, where Canadian prowess remains largely unchallenged. For the past two centuries Canada has had to sit by idly without being able to defeat America at anything it truly cares about. But to finally overcome the US in terms of wealth accumulation is to beat it at its own game. It's like the Saskatchewan RoughRiders winning the Superbowl.

This recent bump in household wealth is of course due to a number of factors, the most curious of which is Canada's efforts to transform itself into the world's dominant oil power. Nowadays, we're so rich from oil money that our money is literally made from oil. But there are more compelling, systemic reasons why Canadians have continued to prosper while our southern cousins falter and stagnate.

Pundits have spent the week floating a variety of theories: Stephen Marche, renowned mythologiser of all things Canuck, argued that it was due to Canada's unique brand of "ruthless socialism". To this, the anti-socialist crowd argued the shift was actually due to Canada becoming more capitalist, just as the US began to experiment with wealth redistribution. Others argued that it was all about the mortgage regulations, stupid.
mod note: article truncated for copyright reasons

3.5 minutes of uncut truth I love my country but truth is just that.

Absolute dynamite! The Truth!! !! ! has been spoken. Too bad it is on a fictional program about news.

ruveyn

The Canadian dollar tends to continually switch between being more valuable and less valuable than the US Dollar right now.
Then the AUD has been consistently more valuable for some time.

"If you're not as familiar with the war of 1812, I'll give you a brief primer: it's the one where Canadians fought off an American invasion and burned down the White House."


Can you guys do this again? Please? I could probably chip in a few dullers to make this happen.