The True North, Strong, and Freer

From yesterday’s episode of Marketplace:

As other people who commented on this story have already said, I don’t buy Wilkinson’s comment about Canada’s healthcare system. Other than that, though, I’m happy to see him raise this point. As an interesting series of articles in the NY Times in 2005 noted, social mobility seens to be more possible in Canada and Europe today than it is in the US. And, for those who tell me on both sides of the border that people pay higher taxes in Canada, I have to say that I’ve found the opposite to be true here, at least in my circumstance. I pay more here — it just comes out of my pocket a bit differently. Municipal taxes, for instance, are three times what I paid in Canada, and I get far fewer services here in return. And, I’m not even taking into consideration what my employer and I pay for my family’s health insurance or the deductibles I need to pay any time one of us goes to see the doctor. I’m not complaining, though. Life is good here for my family, and I’ve been given many great opportunities. Each country has its good sides and bad, but the argument that America is freer economically hasn’t proven itself to be true in my five years on this side of the border.