Canada = Great Right North: Cato Institute

[Barrister]

That doesn't mean Canada is more right wing.

The article never claims that.  Beyond using the title "Great Right North" it only makes the observation that "Perhaps we have something to learn from those "socialists" to the north."

[saskganesh]

why not? he's already writing policy. see: Cap & Trade.

Not sure what is happening there.  But you have a point that Canadian politicians of all stripes are eager to keep in line with Obama wave of popularity.

that (obamamania rub offs) and trying to maintain market access. of course, some industries are more integrated than others.

[MadImmortalMan]

That doesn't mean Canada is more right wing.

The article never claims that.  Beyond using the title "Great Right North" it only makes the observation that "Perhaps we have something to learn from those "socialists" to the north."

True, but only the Cato Institute still has the balls to claim that lowering deficits, cutting spending and being fiscally responsible in general has anything to do with the "right" anymore.

[grumbler]

True, but only the Cato Institute still has the balls to claim that lowering deficits, cutting spending and being fiscally responsible in general has anything to do with the "right" anymore.

There are probably more right-wing parties with that philosophy than left-wing ones, by far.

US political trends do not create universal truths, they are just US political trends.

[Admiral Yi]

The article never claims that.  Beyond using the title "Great Right North" it only makes the observation that "Perhaps we have something to learn from those "socialists" to the north."

Yup.  Sloppy characterization Malthus.

[Razgovory]

True, but only the Cato Institute still has the balls to claim that lowering deficits, cutting spending and being fiscally responsible in general has anything to do with the "right" anymore.

There are probably more right-wing parties with that philosophy than left-wing ones, by far.

How did you come to this conclusion?

[grumbler]

How did you come to this conclusion?

By following world events.  The Economist is especially helpful in this regard.

[Malthus]

The article never claims that.  Beyond using the title "Great Right North" it only makes the observation that "Perhaps we have something to learn from those "socialists" to the north."

Yup.  Sloppy characterization Malthus.

Excuse me? 

[Razgovory]

How did you come to this conclusion?

By following world events.  The Economist is especially helpful in this regard.

Oh.   I was hoping it something to do with facts.

[Admiral Yi]

Excuse me? 

You said the Cato Institute considers Canada more economically right than the US.  That doesn't follow from this article, and I sincerely doubt you'd find anybody at Cato who would sign off on that claim.

[Josephus]

I'm not going to touch this one.

Well, except to say, why does this surprise anyone?

Canada's been, generally, following a right-wing trend since Mulroney. The Liberal years were marked by a definite shift to the right by the Party. (Deficits =Bad; Surplus = Good).

In fact if I were going to write a thesis, I would argue that Canada's political parties are only separated by a hair's breaDth and that...oh...why bother...

[Admiral Yi]

Well, except to say, why does this surprise anyone?

The only part I was remotely surprised by was the smallness of the Canadian federal debt.  Of course that leaves out provincial debt, which is not tiny, is it?  That the US debt has increased as a result of a stimulus bill that was 1/12 of GDP and a mammoth financial bailout is not exactly a shocker.

It's common knowledge that the US has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the developed world.

It's common knowledge that the highest tax bracket is in the same ball park as other developed countries--what that leaves out of course is that most other countries have a stupendous VAT.

[ulmont]

It's common knowledge that the US has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the developed world.

But one of the lowest effective corporate tax rates...

[Barrister]

Well, except to say, why does this surprise anyone?

The only part I was remotely surprised by was the smallness of the Canadian federal debt.  Of course that leaves out provincial debt, which is not tiny, is it?

I did think it was funny when the author pointed out the comparitively small size of the Canadian federal spending as compared to the US, but didn't adress that would necessarily give Canada an edge in comparing national debt.

That being said balanced budgets have been quite popular across Canada.  I believe until last year almost all provinces were in surplus (pretty sure Quebec, as always, was an exception).

[Admiral Yi]

But one of the lowest effective corporate tax rates...

Please elaborate.