Saturday, April 11, 2020

Our neighbor to the north

"US surpasses Italy for the most corvid-19 deaths in the world". This was the headline in today's online edition of the Washington Post.

Without any subjective or emotional commentary on my part I will simply let others speak. This is from comments on an article in today's NY Times on the terrible death toll in New York's nursing homes as this virus invades the US.


Wayne
Ontario Canada
Reading the USA stats for coronavirus is shocking & very sad. I just compared some US stats against Canada's on coronavirus tracking websites. USA has 10 times Canada's population but these comparative stats are shocking. So far USA has 18,800 deaths & Canada has 570 deaths. USA has 501,620 case of this virus & Canada has 22,200. USA's death rate per million population is 57 while Canada's is 15. The main explanation is Canada shut down all schools March 13 & all non-essential businesses soon after. Canada's 'stay at home' & 'social distancing' also began approx. 2+ weeks earlier than USA's. These sensible but difficult protocols have reduced the coronavirus cases & deaths substantially. Both countries must continue them until health experts tell us it's safe to gradually reduce these protocols.


                        Replies to Wayne's comment 
 
Wayne:
Actually, the main explanation is that Canada is governed by intelligent, humane leaders who understand the value of society. And the USA is governed by a cult of selfishness, greed and cultured "We're #1" ignorance supported by many Americans who lack the critical thinking to grasp the basic meaning of the word 'society'. America is about to become #1...in Coronavirus deaths....because it rejects society.

                          Socrates
Downtown Verona. NJ
                                       
                                         Wayne:
In the 2008 financial crisis Paul Krugman wrote an Op-Ed about how the banks in Canada had fared much better because they were more tightly regulated. One reader's comment came in from a Canadian: "It's simple - Canada is a community. America is a market."
                                              
                                      Ruskin
                                         Buffalo, NY



Ruskin:
Correct. During that financial crisis NO Canadian bank failed while over 2000 US banks failed. There was over 11 million home foreclosures in USA & in many states the price of homes declined 40% to 50%. Canada did not have any of those dire consequences. BTW, Canada's 5 major banks actually bought out numerous US banks. Most Americans are unaware that Now many of USA's largest financial institutions are owned by these 5 major Canadian banks. EG's: TD Financial is Toronto Dominion Bank. RBC is Royal Bank of Canada, Scotia is Bank of Nova Scotia etc.

               Wayne
              Ontario Canada



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