Watch the video: Is Canada really poorer than Alabama?

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Certain partisans have been citing Canada's performance on per capita GDP as evidence of a supposed 'lost decade' and economic mismanagement. In Policy Options, economist and director of the Centre for Future Work Jim Stanford deconstructs this arbitrary and misleading statistic. In the first of a two-part analysis, he explains multiple factors affecting both the numerator and denominator in this headline-grabbing number and how recent trends in GDP per capita say more about rapid immigration than about Canada’s overall economic health.

Some business and political commentators cite a growing gap between the per capita GDP of Canada and the U.S. as evidence of Canada’s purported economic dysfunction. In Policy Options, economist and director of the Centre for Future Work Jim Stanford deconstructs this arbitrary and misleading statistic. In the second of a two-part analysis, he explains how Canada is not poorer than Alabama and how, despite lower economic growth per person, most Canadians earn more, live longer and fare better than Americans.