Good article on the current situation of the Canadian Economy where everybody is \"House Rich\" but still crying !.

http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=20070625_106278_106278

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Speech by Thomas Friedman of The New York Times....

"When we were young kids growing up in America, we were told to eat our
vegetables at dinner and not leave them. Mothers said, 'think of the
starving children in India and finish the dinner.' And now I tell my
children: 'Finish your maths homework. Think of the children in India
who would make you starve, if you don't.'"

I dont know what discussion you hope to get started with this rambling article, but it would be helpful if you could post a link and then give a question or opinion ....

There is one answer to real estate: Try to live within one's means. If that means a smaller home or living a bit further away for some , then so be it. The problem is that we are all trying to keep up with the joneses..

I dont know what else to say .. your post has so many topics in it.

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~ Morning rain

Damn! This is a long article. Also, when posting such a bible or thesis, or whatever you may call it please have proper paragraphs. A link would be the better option.

Nevertheless, I read few lines from the top, and I agree that the boom is not reaching to the common man. I believe, the media should focus more on the other side of the coin too rather than bragging about the rising dollar and Alberta boom. In Alberta, despite of drawing a hugh paychecks, people still pay a hugh amount in real estate. This evens out a fat paychecks. Considering, making an $8000 per month, and paying $2000-$3000 rent or $500,000 for a townhouse. What do you say? Not to mention, the real lack of housing in Alberta. So, what boom everyone's talking about?

I believe, Canadian Government is no better than the other country's. It's well said, 'Politics is a dirty game'. This does no better for a common man.

Also, if I start with Immigrants' woes, then any space on any site wouldn't be sufficient.

To sum it up, I agree with 'morningrain' - Live up within your means. No need to buy a detached house to show off your relatives and friends, when you can do quite well in a decent townhouse.

Think about it...

This is an excellent article. Thanks for posting it. It is getting weary reading bullcrap about how nice it is to ride the high horse. This article puts things in better perspective. Sitting in the far-east corner, I keep wondering if it is all what it appears to be from here. The local media around here got nothing but relentless praise for things going on in the west. It is almost like the fancy tales Indians weave about their western experience once they are at home in India on a short visit. I wish there are more publications like this clearly dissecting the ACTUAL life style changes in these boom times. Who knows, some kinda bust may be right around the corner. Those who feel the need to keep up with the joneses will pay eventually, whether it is boom time or bust. Anyways, this article has a good dose of sobering effect on the stupid people who might love brag endlessly how some Indian went west and got a couple grand a month raise and so on.

Has anyone seen the ad. abt a guy who says that he has everything, big house, lawn moving tractor, club house membership, etc. Then he says" I am top of my head. Somebody help me". That's how it is. Living beyond the means just to be in RAT RACE. Its common everywhere. Especially NRI janata has this mentality. I have come across desis who lost their job, had a big house and two cars, and finally gone crazy. One of them was admitted to the hospital for 2 days to calm him down.

DIO

Appreciate the article - Thanks for sharing . I have always felt that statistics and surveys are skewed to serve one s objective . Perhaps would have appeared better with some editing and spaces.

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Fido.

Another article from National Post

'Mediocrity' threatens way of life: report card

Paul Vieira, National Post
Published: Wednesday, June 13, 2007
OTTAWA - Compared with other industrialized countries, Canada is sinking in a pool of mediocrity that threatens to pull down our standard of living, says a new report from the Conference Board of Canada.

Full article is in
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=e15ed1f0-82dd-4f66-8a84-18f9bc97a106&k=68065