Peace, Order, and Good Governance, eh

References to Canada in the US media usually vary from Igloo gothic wilderness bites to how bad the outpatient queues are in Soviet Canuckistan.  Satisfying to read something about the value of pragmatic common sense in governance.

Fareed Zakaria | Newsweek.com.
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.

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