“When the United States saw a vast housing bubble inflate and burst during the 2000s, many Canadians felt smug about the purported prudence of their financial and property markets.  During the crash, Canadian house prices fell by just 8%, compared with more than 30% in America.  They hit new record highs by 2010. ‘Canada was not a part of the problem,’ Stephen Harper, the prime minister, boasted in 2010.”  The Economist