What does Mark Carney miss about Canada?

By David Hodges on July 5, 2013
Estimated reading time: 1 minute

Political pundits took Mark Carney to task for leaving Canada just as the proverbial bloom was coming off our economic rose, but we here at MoneySense feel a bit badly for our recently departed Bank of Canada governor. The U.K. hasn't been very kind to Carney thus far, so we suspect he's missing the following.

Media mojo The Canadian press had a love affair with Carney, dubbing him our “superstar” central bank governor. But not surprisingly those nasty British tabloids aren’t reciprocating, labelling him “more Clark Kent than Superman.” Affordable housing Despite his $1.3-million annual salary, earlier this year Carney’s wife Diana groused via Twitter that she couldn’t find a place to live in pricey London. Here’s hoping those crazy kids actually found something within their budget. Our mediocre economy Canada’s economy may be facing tepid growth, but we’ve emerged from the Great Recession relatively unscathed. Meanwhile, Britain’s financial situation remains as dire as ever. From the frying pan into the fire doesn’t even begin to describe the pickle Carney’s in. The political ring It’s no secret that Carney is itching to jump into politics. But British MPs aren’t having it, all but forcing Carney to pinkie swear that he’ll quell any and all political ambitions until he returns to Hoserland in 2018.

Hey Britain! we’re a solid ‘B’—you’re just a ‘D’

Canada’s overall economic performance ranks sixth among 16 peer countries and earns a B grade, according to the Conference Board of Canada’s “How Canada Performs” 2012 economic report card. Meanwhile, the U.K. is positioned at 14th, earning it a lacklustre D grade. Canada continues to outperform the U.K. in terms of GDP growth, productivity and unemployment.