Last Man Vancouver

China vs. the US. Same world. Wildly different price tags. The numbers don’t lie, and they tell a fascinating story. Average monthly salary in China: $1,007. In the US: $4,276. That’s a 4.2x income gap. But here’s where it gets interesting. Food costs don’t follow the same ratio. A meal at an inexpensive restaurant in China costs $2.84. In the US? $20.00. That’s 7x more expensive. A dozen eggs: $1.57 in China vs $4.41 in the US. A cappuccino: $2.95 vs $5.32. White rice per lb: $0.43 vs $2.09. The Chinese consumer is paying dramatically less, not just proportionally, but in absolute dollar terms. Now look at the real squeeze. Broadband internet in China: $11.23/month. In the US: $72.43/month. Mobile phone plan in China: $8.95. In the US: $60.90. Basic utilities: $51.89 in China vs $210.49 in the US. Infrastructure costs in America are crushing the middle class. The one area where China doesn’t win? A new compact car costs $18,488 in China vs $35,699 in the US. Cheaper, but relative to monthly salary, still a 18-month income commitment for the average Chinese worker. The real insight: China has engineered a low-cost, high-efficiency consumer economy. The US has engineered high wages but also high costs that quietly consume them. Purchasing power parity tells a story that raw salary comparisons completely miss. I have lived in China for over 20 years and I can attest that we get more for less. The only thing I would say it’s ridiculously expensive is real estate prices, where an ordinary person would had to work their whole life to pay off the mortgage. Price-to-income ratios are estimated at: * Beijing: ~37x annual income * Shanghai: ~38x annual income That means an average household may need 30–40 years of total income just to buy a home outright. This is why many Chinese families: * pool money across 2–3 generations * rely heavily on parents for downpayments * prioritize home ownership above almost everything else Important shift happening now: China’s property crisis actually reduced prices in many cities: * mortgage rates fell sharply * home prices declined * affordability improved versus 2020–2021 peaks But psychologically, many young Chinese are now: * delaying marriage * delaying home purchases * preferring renting * less willing to take 30-year debt because they watched previous generations become heavily leveraged into declining property markets.

我也来谈私立学校 很多华人移民后都会面临一个选择：读公立学校，还是私立学校？今天就聊聊这个话题。 多伦多的公校免费；私立学校每年学费约4万到5万加币，还要加各种杂费；寄宿生通常超过8万。 这之间的差距算是无限大。 加拿大联邦有一个住房机构(CMHC)，建议家庭：按揭本息不应超过收入的30%，整体住房开销(含冷暖气、管理费等)不应超过40%。 住房有明确指引，但孩子教育却没有。 我家的孩子从小读公立学校，后来因为多伦多教育局罢工，我和太太一气之下, 把孩子送进了私校。 所以两边情况都了解，多少有些发言权。 简单说，公校很看“运气”：最好的老师也在公校，而且必须持有教师执照，私校管理相对灵活，也同样看“运气”。 我主要看这几个方面： 建校年数、捐赠基金(endowment)、师生比、教师中硕士和博士比例(高年级更重要)，以及毕业生的去向。 但我也留意到，一些华人家庭在经济条件不足、学术需求不明确的情况下，为了面子把孩子送进私校，带来的问题反而更大： 我身边就有这样的例子（香港和大陆背景都有）。孩子去了，连课本都不买，公校没有要求，私校必须，因此造成学习效果很差； 别说捐款(私校文化中几乎必须)，连课外活动也不参加。久而久之，孩子会觉得自己格格不入，心理上产生阴影。 记得我有一个微信家长群，一共54位父亲，长期在多伦多生活的只有三四位，其他都在国内赚钱。孩子长期缺乏父亲陪伴，心理问题可想而知 …… 如果大家对这个话题有兴趣，我可以继续讲更多，欢迎在评论区告诉我。

The Carney Liberals did not win a majority government through a general election or today's by-elections. Instead, it was won through backroom deals with politicians who betrayed the people who voted for them. While the Prime Minister spent the year on this cynical power grab, he has doubled the deficit, and given Canada the worst grocery prices and housing costs in the G7. Liberals expect Canadians to give up, get complacent and go away, so Carney can have total power without any accountability. That will not happen. Our country and its people are worth fighting for. We will continue to fight for people to afford homes, food and fuel. We will continue to fight for safety in our streets. We will continue to fight for our resource workers and soldiers. I will continue to lead that fight every day and in every way in Parliament, across the country and in the next election, when Canadians will reclaim the country we know and love.