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Would you describe the American telecom, or cable, or internet provider industry as competitive? Majority of Americans get to choose between 1 and 2 companies and pay exorbitant prices for horrible service.
That is totally false. There is no ISP, cable, nor telecom in Canada that can compete with Verizon in the US. The majority of Americans have many choices.
Yes, I agree. That's not really debatable. And yes, you are right, cell phone plans don't really matter because they are offset by higher costs of everything else from cars to gas to coffee.
What's debatable though, is whether this Canada vs USA comparison makes much sense. Your argument is that it matters to you - so because you've lived in both, Canada and USA, you are making this comparison.
But I'm simply saying that these two countries are just too different and such blanket comparisons are meaningless.
The costs in Canada are marked-up based on what Canadians are willing to pay. Even the bottom (financially) 10-20% of Canadians can afford a respectable life based on the Canadian minimum wage, Canadian jobs available, Canadian health care, etc. However, even with the lower prices of gas and food, the bottom 10-20% of Americans lead lives that borders life-conditions in Third World countries. What good is a cheaper car or a cheaper TV if significant parts of your population cant even afford a good life?
Like I said, the two countries are VERY different. Such blanket comparisons are mostly meaningless.
The fact is that the Local Purchasing Power of Americans is 21.49% higher than Canadians. This means that the average American can purchase 21.48% more goods based on the cost of living vs income.
CD will not allow me to post the link but you can check it out on Numbeo.
FYI, the poverty rates in the US and Canada are very similar.
The fact is that the Local Purchasing Power of Americans is 21.49% higher than Canadians. This means that the average American can purchase 21.48% more goods based on the cost of living vs income.
CD will not allow me to post the link but you can check it out on Numbeo.
FYI, the poverty rates in the US and Canada are very similar.
This is true but people believe what they want to believe. I used to be one of the people that chose to believe the economy in Canada is as good as in the US but now that I have lived in the US for a while now I know better. I can say that I was wrong and I learned from the experience. I think the reason why this is hard to accept that the US economy is significantly better is that many people take it personally that their economy is worse than another country. I was thinking about this earlier when I was online shopping. Online shopping in Canada is only as advanced as it was in the US in the year 2000.
I actually was always curious about such argument and did some research.
Essentially, the bottom 20% of Canadian families make between C$0-$24,700 in 2011;
The bottom 20% American households make between $0-18,500.
There is a nominal difference of 30%. However, 10% of the difference can be explained by exchange rate. Additionally, family income is almost always higher than household income (which includes a bunch of unrelated 20 year olds who share the same apartment), sometimes the difference can be as much as 50%.
All things considered, I really doubt the claim that the poor Americans are so much worse off than their poor peers in Canada. And we can't forget the fact that everything is cheaper in the US by 15-20%. But on the other hand, Canada has socialized healthcare, US has Medicaid. So it is really hard to compare.
But it is very unlikely that the bottom 20% Americans live a much worse life than the bottom 20% Canadians. I agree with Ilikemike that it is more like a repeated message taken granted by Canadians just to feel a bit "prouder".
If one thinks an American making $15000 a year lives under 3 world country conditions, he has never been to a third world country.
Median household income is typically 10-15% lower than median family income. In the city where I live, the median Household income is $87,000 USD and the median Family income is $98,000.
BTW, I was married in Mexico to my beautiful Mexican wife and we lived there for 4 years. We spend a lot of time in Mexico. I owned a business there, and our son played professional baseball in Mexico. We have also been very involved with the Mexican communities in the US. for several years. Mr. Sandman is totally out to lunch.
That is totally false. There is no ISP, cable, nor telecom in Canada that can compete with Verizon in the US. The majority of Americans have many choices.
Hah! Sure.
For someone living in Chicago, find a cell phone plan on Verizon that is cheaper than what's available in Toronto. If you do, I will send you a cash reward.
Last edited by sandman249; 12-05-2014 at 09:49 PM..
This is true but people believe what they want to believe. I used to be one of the people that chose to believe the economy in Canada is as good as in the US but now that I have lived in the US for a while now I know better. I can say that I was wrong and I learned from the experience. I think the reason why this is hard to accept that the US economy is significantly better is that many people take it personally that their economy is worse than another country. I was thinking about this earlier when I was online shopping. Online shopping in Canada is only as advanced as it was in the US in the year 2000.
Seriously - how much can you bring to the table with respect to either economy - yer a College student aren't you... Before that you were a TEENAGER in Vancouver.... what do they know about life and work - right nuttin..
Also - explicame about online shopping and the lack of advancement in Canada vs the U.S? The year 2000 you were 8 years old ILikeMike91 - were you online shopping in the U.S when you were 8 years old while in Vancouver? More choice in U.S -yes, more 'advanced' shopping I'd love to hear your criteria on that...
They look practically the same - having said that you only have to buy 25 bucks worth of goods on the CAD website to get free shipping - on the U.S one you have to buy 35 bucks worth.. Both countries have free pickup at the store - big deal!
The US has a lot of issues for sure..but a significant part of the poverty issue has different roots than simply lack of economic opportunities. North America has a serious drug/alcohol addiction problem for example.
To our European friend that is horrified about certain urban areas of the US I will kindly invite him/her to tour some of the Roma camps in Italy if you really want to see Africa-like conditions.
Rome, Italy
Milan, Italy
Paris, France
Couple of pics of Banlieues in France
I'm not saying that what happen in some areas of Detroit, Camden, etc.. it's fine but...there are serious issues everywhere.
The Latino community in the US is overwhelmingly hardworking and they keep coming here for one simple reason...the economic opportunities at hand.
My Guatemalan gardener (he literally crossed the border on foot decades ago he told me) drives a new Chevy SUV and his working truck, his Mexican wife clean houses with her crew, she drives a Chrysler 300 and they recently bought a detached house in Seattle.....there are middle class Canadians in Vancouver that cannot afford to buy a condo and overworked young, especially in retail, that can barely afford a car.
If you work hard, there is no better place than the US....
When it comes to cost of living, I do not think it is a surprise to anyone that it is noticeably lower on average in the US compared to Canada and often there is more selection of items and places to shop. Thousands of Canadian shopping en masse every week in border areas are not stupid.
In particularly for food, in my personal experience price difference tend to get higher once you get into specialty/imported articles, for basics the gap is very little and sometimes none at all.
There is one noticeable exception in my case...... due probably to the much larger Italian community in Vancouver compared to Seattle, I tend to find more specialty/regional food items from my native country up north and often cheaper than Seattle especially in grocery stores in the Commercial Drive area taken over by new Asian owners.
Last edited by saturno_v; 12-06-2014 at 01:31 AM..
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