The Life of Americans Versus that of Canadians.
Many Americans that live along the border with Canada traverse the short distance across the border every day, for many live in the US but work in Canada. The opposite is true for many Canadians that live along that great expanse we call the US Canadian border. Being from Canada but having lived in the US I've had the opportunity to see how residents in both countries live and how the economies work. As I look at both nations I cannot help but notice how interconnected their economies are and how standards of living in both are closely related.
A constitution-based federal republic with a strong democratic tradition runs the United States. While in comparison the Canadian government is a confederation with parliamentary democracy. Even today despite its current economic problems the US still has one of the top economies in the world with Canada not far behind. In 2002 the CIA world fact book reported the United States per capita GDP ranking 2nd at $37,600 with a real growth rate of 2.45%. (CIA) Canada was ranked 9th with a per capita GDP of $29,400 with a real growth rate surpassing that of the US at 3.4% in 2002. (CIA) The inflation rates of Canada and the US are also relatively close to each other, with the CIA world fact book reporting the US inflation rate in 2002 as 1.6% and Canada's at 2.2% in 2002. (CIA) The unemployment rates however are not quite as close with the US rate being 5.8% in 2002 and the Canadian rate being 7.6% in 2002. (CIA) Part of these rising unemployment rates in the US and Canada are due to the bursting of the internet bubble in 2000, and the decline of small farms in both nations. These numbers alone however do not paint an accurate picture of the standard of living in the US and Canada. In order to get a better idea we must first look at the Rich/Poor gap in both countries. According to a 1997 survey in the CIA World Fact Book the lowest 10% of households in the US made only 1.
