Who says Canada’s the safest banking system?

Canadian's of course!

In an article in Newsweek, there's a long discussion about why Canada has weathered this financial storm so well.  There's the first headline:

"Canadian banks are typically leveraged at 18 to 1--compared with U.S. banks at 26 to 1"

Well, that disagrees with this chart that I filched off the New York Times a couple of weeks ago that reckons American banks are typically leveraged only 12 to 1 ... but hey, we're talking Canadian so the numbers are always bigger, a bit like the mountains and the moose.

Anyways, in the article the author Fareed Zakaria, Editor for Newsweek International, rabbits on about how Canada didn't let regulations loosen, didn't create a false housing bubble, didn't allow mass immigration and did focus on keeping budget surpluses in reserve. 

So yes, there's a few things that speak volumes for Canada but there's no point in rubbing our noses in it is there?

OK, so maybe there is ... the World Economic Forum state that Canada is the safest banking system in the world.

Meanwhile, I quite enjoyed reading the 60 or so comments on this piece, such as Harryology's:

"U billingual frozenbutts r funny guys...  U have no power,no glamour,nobody cares about u, even the terrorists don't bother to bomb u because u r insignificant ... a sort of 'Mexicans on ice'."

Nothing like international diplomacy is there?

p.s. thanks to Bryan Foss for the tip on this one