Much of that net worth is in overvalued residential real estate. Oil at $90 then boosts the CAN/US exchange rate. Camadian oil exports to the U.S. will double over the next eight years. On the other hand, oil could go to $40 fast in a recession. These are the variables.
That works both ways. In fact, I'd suggest that the average "net worth" of someone here in the U.S. has been over-estimated for years.
One big difference between the U.S. and Canada is that the banking system up north isn't very conducive to the kind of real estate bubble driven by idiotic lending standards like we've had here in the U.S. Lending requirements were always tighter up there, and have actually gotten even tighter in recent months under some changes in Canadian banking regulations.
The real issue here is that the U.S. dollar has declined considerably against the Canadian dollar in recent years. Ironically, the "net worth" of your average American is being suppressed by his/her own government's fiscal policy.
“Much of that net worth is in overvalued residential real estate.”
There is a great likelihood that US real estate is still significantly overvalued, so I’d call that a wash.
Canadians know that when there is a fiscal deficit that they can expect cuts in government. In the US we complain that someone ELSE has more than us and expect them to pay. We ARE more socialist than them.
The biggest threat to Canadians prosperity is the US government, so we’ve got that in common.
OBAMA is the only variable