Baraka_Guru

As far as the banking industries, that's a fair comparison, but there are other factors the information above doesn't cover. For example, we didn't have a mortgage crisis like the U.S. did. Much of that has to do with regulations barring banks from taking on certain borrowing risks. More specifically, there is a minimum requirement for a down payment on a home, and below a certain threshold, the borrower must take on mortgage insurance.

And this ties into my original reaction to your comment about "government interference." I'm not currently sure if you were referring to the task-based measures taken in the U.S. banking industry or if you were referring to government measures in general. But, as I've pointed out, and regardless of the distribution of assets throughout the industry, reasonable regulatory practices ensure that banks aren't taking on foolish risks when doling out credit to borrowers. That's the deal with the Canadian system: reasonable regulation. The U.S. system seemed way too lax. You said the SEC had the authority to do something but didn't. Perhaps the problem is that they had options and not rules.

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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot