Kelly McParland reads the fine print:
Near the bottom of the Standard & Poor’s report that downgraded U.S. debt last week is a tribute to the Canadian economy that could contribute to what’s becoming a serious case of swollen-headedness.
In comparing the U.S. situation to “relevant peers”, i.e. other western economies, it notes that Canada has become the snotty kid at the front of the class that gets every answer right. Of five countries — Canada, the U.S., Germany, France and Britain — Canada has the lowest government debt burden (net debt to gross domestic product), at 34%.
It adds: “By 2015, we project that … net public debt to GDP ratios will range between 30% (lowest, Canada) and 83% (highest, France), with the U.S. debt burden at 79%.”
And while the other four are all expected to see their debt declining, in the U.S. it could still be on the rise. So nya-nya to you, rest of western world.
