If you watch CNN or read the Washington Post, the financial sky is falling.

Evidently, the American economy is on the brink of collapse (still) and the banks are the walking dead.

Really? Cause in Canada everything is just peachy.

"An oasis of calm"

"Better days ahead"

"Bank beats earning expectation"

When was the last time you heard that kind of talk in relation to the US markets?

But in Canada, that is the picture.

Canada has had a solid economy for the last 12 years, and we owe it to good management, and good regulation of our banking system.

Canada is the only western nation that hasn't had a bank fail yet. Compare that with the US that had 14 banks fail last week.

Canada, years ago, placed a 'firewall' between the banking and investment houses that protected the Canadian market from the kind of insane deals that doomed Wall Street. These regulations were not only fair, but actually HELPED banks make lots of money. It was not uncommon for banks to make billions of dollars every quarter in Canada, and then -3 months later- make even more money.

Today, Canada's banks are solid. In fact, I had a meeting just last week to increase my line of credit for my business and they were happy to do so. When was the last time you heard an American bank do that?

I mention this, because we need to remind ourselves that regulations are not the enemy of the marketplace. When done right, good regulations can actually protect the marketplace, and help businesses succeed by minimizing the risk of exposing the entire system to bad deals.

In the States, the entire financial network is infected with bad debts. In Canada, those "firewalls" have prevented toxic deals from polluting the financial environment.

Are Canadian banks perfect? No. There is still some work that needs to be done. Their user fees are ridiculous, and there needs to be greater transparency about what they do with our savings, and I still have a massive beef between the far too cozy relationship they have with our government.

But you know what? They are the best banks in the world right now, and I ain't complaining.

American's can learn a lot from the Canadian system. The first thing they can learn is that regulations are nothing to be afraid of.



MoonBat