Time to "Canadianize" American Banks

In a recent article columnist Paul Klugman advocated that the USA follow the Canadian model and regulate its banking industry, noting that Canadian banks survived the 2008 financial meltdown almost without a hitch while large banks in the US and elsewhere had to be bailed out with billions of dollars of taxpayers' cash.

Op-Ed Columnist - Good and Boring - NYTimes.com

It's time to get rid of the banks as a private institution and let the Canadian Gov. be in charge of the "cash".Today it's the banks who own the money not the government or us , the people .That again goes back for the federal government not to collecti any federal income tax but being in charge and producing the greens.

We have our problems here ..Just because our government chooses to ignore them ,doesn't mean they don't exist ..

USA could do worse than restructure their bank on the model of Canadian banks. Ireland and Iceland are thinking of doing the same (or at least they were). The recent meltdown affected Canadian banks not in the least. They all kept making healthy profits during the meltdown, if somewhat down from before. None of them cut the dividend.

American bank stocks went though the floor, and in the process dragged down Canadian bank stocks as well. Canadian bank stocks were down for no reason other than American bank stocks were down.

I bought Canadian banks last year, and I am sitting pretty now. BMO is giving me 10% dividend, CIBC 9%. Now dividends are down sharply of course, since bank stocks have recovered rather nicely.

But Canadian banks is a winning model, at least it has been for the past several decades. USA would do well to restructure their banks along Canadian lines. But they probably won’t do it, Americans just hate to admit that somebody else may have a better idea, better plan than they do (look at the health care debacle over there).

Incidentally, a few months ago IMF looked at the banks of the world and ranked them. Canadian banks were No. 1, the best in the world. Swedish banks were No. 2. By contrast, US banks were No. 40 in the world, British banks, No. 44.

I read the article, and my prognosis (that Americans will do nothing) was right. This is what it says in the article:

So there’s a good chance that we’ll do nothing, or nothing much, to prevent future banking crises. But it won’t be because we don’t know what to do: we’ve got a clear example of how to keep banking safe sitting right next door.

Last time I checked, Canadian banks were less regulated than American banks? I don't really follow it. What I remember reading is that American banks are forced to reserve a certain amount of currency in their vaults for every so much loan they give out. In contrast, I thought Canadian banks were not forced to do so.

Where does it say that Canadian banks are less regulated than American banks? Nothing of the sort, it is the other way round.

In Canada banks have so much power over the money trail ..It's hard to know what's going on internally.. ..From loaning /investing it /insuring /nickle and diming ..Then they will take you to the cleaners to get the money you owe them .."They" control everything ...

Yeah ,Sir joseph porter .I guess Canadian banks are a good place to invest in

China, I am surprised. That sounds very socialistic.