Sorry, ontario is fine I’m a Michigander.
Jim
Jim,
Check out the schedule on the OAT site http://www.triathlonontario.com/main.htm
.
I do have an issue with that. I understand that you should make a profit for the effort put in for making the race happen. But we are now talking athlete exploitation. I’ve done LA and it is pretty cool but certainly not worth $125. Hell, if I did it for $90-$100 why is it $125 now probably $250 next year. But let us not forget the epitomy of triathlon corporate greed: IRONMAN INC.
As well run as IM races are have no doubt that the interest of money making and taking advantage of IM hungry athletes comes first to them.
We also need to realize that this is also our fault because as much as we bitch and complain about high entry fees we still get in line and pay $475 for the IM experience. The day an IM race doesn’t fill up then things will change.
“According to World Bank data”
I’d be curious to understand this report. For example my wife is a school teacher and her research indicated that she makes more in Ontario than in the US. That’s only one job catagory, so I don’t know how others stack up. Obviously lawyers make more in the US as another example
You’d have to factor in a lot of variables such as our “free” health care, although not really free since it’s paid thru income taxes. A friend of mine from here who moved to the US tells me that he gets nickeled and dimed for a lot of gov services at all levels that he took for granted in Canada.
I just don’t know, but I really doubt that the average American is 28% richer. What I have noticed though is a bigger gap between rich in poor in the US.
www.somersault.ca
Both are excellent race series in Ontario and like Cerveloguy says, dirt cheap compared to what you guys pay and our events rarely sell out. I think local consumers won’t pay the same amounts that our American brothers pay. We just pay a lot more in taxes, so folks just have less cash to spend on recreation in general.
If I look at the Tzone in most races in the US that I attend vs the Canadian ones, I’d say the average MOP or BOP dude has ~$2000 more in equipment. You will catch very few dudes riding around here on $5000 Litespeeds at 17 mph. In fact, you’ll find very few dudes even riging $5000 Litespeeds at 27 mph. Mostly because our government has grabbed any cash we would spend on that stuff in return for pretty well subsidized University education and pseudo-free “pseudo-healthcare”.
Someone told me the biggest expense for a local race was paying the police to be there to direct traffic – I always thought the city/county provided them for public safety reasons, but they (at least at this race) were paid. So, there might be some “hidden” expenses you don’t realize. (Renting the venue from the city, for example)
“You will catch very few dudes riding around here on $5000 Litespeeds at 17 mph.”
I’d be too embarrassed!! Yeah, I dunno. Remember the United Nations quality of life index reports that for several years in a row ranked Canada as the best country to live in. We’ve dropped to three or four so in the last couple of years, I think they rank Norway number one now. The US was always in 7th or 8th if I remember right. Dunno know what these reports mean or how valid these things are.
Home is we’re you’re happy living.
“Yea, I know, insurance costs are ridiculously high.”
Does anyone know this for sure? I used to own a martial arts school and everyone always assumed that insurance was a huge expense when a four million dollar policy cost me less than $3k a year.
There is a problem with the World Bank data. It does not take into account a key fact that skews the data. The US has more of the ultra rich - You have a significantly higher % of very weathly people. The ultra rich skew the PPP data upwards - effectively overstating the average for the US.
In reality the middle class Canadian is not significantly different that the middle class American. We also have a lower percentage of people living below the poverty level. The size of our 'middle class is relatively larger. The Canadian system is much more socialist that the American system and we tend to have a lower standard deviation of income as a result.
I think you’ve just explained it to me. Thanks.
I think this is one reason JA have had trouble getting numbers @ CaliforniaMan. They want $400 for a 1st time race, which is also a non-qualifier. Much of the appeal of the non WTC races is that they are usually much cheaper. I’m not sure what they were thnking. I paid less than that for IM Canada!
The data I cited is not wealth data. The data is for GNP, which is a measure of wealth creation. There is a fundamental difference. On a per capita basis the US creates more wealth than Canada. There are many reasons for that, including higher productivity in various economic sectors, the advantage of greater size and scale in industries like retail, a superior higher education system (sure to raise some eyebrows up north, I am sure), and an onerous tax system in Canada that discourages entrepreneurial activity. While there may be a slightly greater disparity between rich and poor in the US vs Canada, the evidence is pretty clear: on average, Americans are richer than Canadians.
Purchasing power parity is the number you quoted and that is the datum that I responded to. Your number is out of date due to the 20% appreciation of the C$ in 2003, the two years of Canadian economic outperformance (including improvements in productivity) relative to the US and the skewing of the data. GNP, simplified, is a measure of the total earnings of the country. Purchasing power parity is the GNP divided by the population. The larger group of ultra rich in the US means that the mode income would be lower than the mean income relative to the US.
Yes the US does still have a productivity advantage. The superior higher education system I would have to disagree with. The US does have some excellent schools but so does Canada. My business school was ranked in the top thirty in the world by the Financial Times. There are a number of US schools on that list as well, but ten times the population does help in that area.
With regards to the tax system, I think this is a favourite rant up here as well. However, on an individual basis, I read a study a few years ago that added back the cost of health care that was being paid by the individual in the US (either directly or by their employer - effectively reducing their income by this amount) making the equivalent of US$30,000 the difference in the tax system disappeared.
On average you are correct, however the American average is significantly skewed by the Bill Gates, Steve Allen, Michael Bloomberg, Michael Dell, Martha Stewart etc. of the US. The more meaningful number is to look at the mode rather than the mean. I think if you do a study you will find the mode is higher in Canada.
“a superior higher education system (sure to raise some eyebrows up north, I am sure),”
Now you’re talking absolute crap and I’ll call you out on this one big time. The exception is if you’re going to Harvard, Yale or one of the top Ivy League schools .
Now explain thyself.
There is no question that the US is much richer than Canada on a per capita basis. I defy you to show me valid data that shows otherwise. As to the quality of the higher education system, I will say that I believe there are pockets of excellence in the Canadian system. I have three degrees from Canadian universities and am proud of the university education I received. Western Ontario, for example, has a business school that is in the top 30-40 in the world. However, the high end of the American system has no comparison anywhere in the world. And, the high end is much, much deeper than the Ivies and much deeper than most Canadians realize. The problem with the Canadian university system is socialism. The government owns all the universities, which means rationed resources (just like health care). The universities are OK but the absence of real educational competition means none of the universities can match the best in the US. The universities cannot compete for world class faculty given the low salaries and high taxes and they cannot compete for top grad students. They are in a chronic underfunded situation and muddle along just as the rationed health care system muddles along.
"I have three degrees from Canadian universities and am proud of the university education I received. … The problem with the Canadian university system is socialism.
Yeah right, and what would have your tuition fees been for those same three degrees in the US? Education and health care for the people and not just the rich elites? Yeah, I guess that’s the “problem” with socialism in Canada.
I think we should just leave this US centric idiot to his ramblings. Three degrees and he still doesn’t know shit. Maybe he is right about the education system after all… He did get his degrees up here.
Lets go back to our cheap sprints that we can enter a week or two before and leave a.i. (anti intelligence?) to his ranting.
Good luck this summer.
Yarf,
I agree. If he gained his highly subsidized three university degrees up here and then ran off to the US and complains about it he’s nothing but a hypocrit. A total sell out.
Wasn’t LA about $80 last year???
Geez guys, all I said was that the US was a richer country, which is why triathlon entry fees are higher down here. I did not say the US was a better country or a better place to live. You Canadian blokes are a bit sensitive about this stuff…