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Canada's Banking System


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One of my simplistic arguments. Canada makes it's money on oil, gas and timber. Real, useful products that people need in the real world. And those assets are spread along a small population. Their banks do not need to invest in speculative ventures because the country is awash in cash.

 

That's a non sequitur - Canada's natural resources and low population have very little to do with how their banks act.

 

Again, it has everything to do with regulation. In exchange for keeping high capital ratios for the banks, Ottawa puts up a huge moat around the banking industry that limits competition. What you end up having is a handful of very large banks that dominate the country. This results in higher prices paid by the consumers for similar services. The upside to this is lower risk and escaping bursting bubbles - the downside is that you pay more for the services and have less competition and innovation.

 

This is not limited to banking, as Ottawa's keep Canada Canadian mantra resonates across all industries. Canadians largely benefit from new products & services once they get imported from the US. Even if a Canadian entrepreneur discovers a cool new product, he has a greater potential for the product to get its break in the US than in Canada. But once the product is a success, Ottawa will do its best to protect that product.

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Thank you, that is the finest complement I have ever received on this forum . I have moved up to simplistic from simpleton :)

For the record, I didn't call you simplistic, I said that your argument was.

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That's a non sequitur - Canada's natural resources and low population have very little to do with how their banks act.

 

Again, it has everything to do with regulation. In exchange for keeping high capital ratios for the banks, Ottawa puts up a huge moat around the banking industry that limits competition. What you end up having is a handful of very large banks that dominate the country. This results in higher prices paid by the consumers for similar services. The upside to this is lower risk and escaping bursting bubbles - the downside is that you pay more for the services and have less competition and innovation.

 

This is not limited to banking, as Ottawa's keep Canada Canadian mantra resonates across all industries. Canadians largely benefit from new products & services once they get imported from the US. Even if a Canadian entrepreneur discovers a cool new product, he has a greater potential for the product to get its break in the US than in Canada. But once the product is a success, Ottawa will do its best to protect that product.

So, essentially Canada sucks on Americas teat till they are ready for solid food. Where can we get that kind of treatment?

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That's a non sequitur - Canada's natural resources and low population have very little to do with how their banks act.

 

Again, it has everything to do with regulation. In exchange for keeping high capital ratios for the banks, Ottawa puts up a huge moat around the banking industry that limits competition. What you end up having is a handful of very large banks that dominate the country. This results in higher prices paid by the consumers for similar services. The upside to this is lower risk and escaping bursting bubbles - the downside is that you pay more for the services and have less competition and innovation.

 

This is not limited to banking, as Ottawa's keep Canada Canadian mantra resonates across all industries. Canadians largely benefit from new products & services once they get imported from the US. Even if a Canadian entrepreneur discovers a cool new product, he has a greater potential for the product to get its break in the US than in Canada. But once the product is a success, Ottawa will do its best to protect that product.

 

You know the Canadian industry pretty well. Are you sure you're not a closet canuck :)

 

But your assessment of the banking system is spot on. Someone in my field can at best hope to get a job at one of the big 5 as no one trusts the small asset management firms enough for them to expand much unless you live in TO.

 

For the record I'd much rather move to London or Switzerland than live in Toronto.

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More likely Coli.

 

Not that he'll see it either.

 

No, NG. It's a typo that goes back about 12 years, much like The Dean's drinkling problem or pseudonym "Love Corn".

 

Friggin' newbies. :) Probably don't even know what "belinda" means, or who the PLA is.

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No, NG. It's a typo that goes back about 12 years, much like The Dean's drinkling problem or pseudonym "Love Corn".

 

Friggin' newbies. :) Probably don't even know what "belinda" means, or who the PLA is.

 

I've been around as long as anyone in other aliases...I was working in a cube at an environmental cleanup company outside Trenton that was eventually bought by the Shaw Group when the old D&C website led me over here. That was about '96 because it was before I went to law school in Fall '97. Could not have been '95...odd that TBD doesn't show up pre-98 at archive.org and my earliest appearance in their archive is '99 as "Philly Bills."

 

(Holy shiite, there's even a picture of me at the first TBD tailgate on this site! Happy to see my mom and me hanging before the game.)

 

And remember belinda well. Can't say I recall PLA though.

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I've been around as long as anyone in other aliases...I was working in a cube at an environmental cleanup company outside Trenton that was eventually bought by the Shaw Group when the old D&C website led me over here. That was about '96 because it was before I went to law school in Fall '97. Could not have been '95...odd that TBD doesn't show up pre-98 at archive.org and my earliest appearance in their archive is '99 as "Philly Bills."

 

(Holy shiite, there's even a picture of me at the first TBD tailgate on this site! Happy to see my mom and me hanging before the game.)

 

And remember belinda well. Can't say I recall PLA though.

 

Panda Liberation Army. Stole one of Rosen's pandas at the first tailgate. Posted a few times under "Panda Liberation Army", before he forgot to switch logins and outed himself as JSP.

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Panda Liberation Army. Stole one of Rosen's pandas at the first tailgate. Posted a few times under "Panda Liberation Army", before he forgot to switch logins and outed himself as JSP.

 

JSP, cool.

 

Joe in Macungie, not cool.

 

At that first tailgate, I remember SDS, NG, #89, Bob Lamb, and Darin's Limo. I am sure I met more people but I wasn't there long. I was up from Philly so I had other tailgates to attend to and probably only hung out for 45 minutes.

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No, NG. It's a typo that goes back about 12 years, much like The Dean's drinkling problem or pseudonym "Love Corn".

 

Friggin' newbies. :rolleyes: Probably don't even know what "belinda" means, or who the PLA is.

 

Sorry, wasn't part of the inner circle to get those references.

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Panda Liberation Army. Stole one of Rosen's pandas at the first tailgate. Posted a few times under "Panda Liberation Army", before he forgot to switch logins and outed himself as JSP.

 

Whatever happened to JSP? It must be ages since I've read one of his posts.

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Whatever happened to JSP? It must be ages since I've read one of his posts.

 

:thumbsup::unsure:

JSP, cool.

 

Joe in Macungie, not cool.

 

I see you're lighting up again.

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