What a self indulgent, uneducated load of malarkey. To tar all the US and Americans with the same naïve bombast is typical of Canadians who think they know everything about the US. 

"Americans don't own anything? I don't know how to respond to such a statement. And you're actually suggesting there are no highly educated Americans? My ex and I are two of those highly educated Canadians working in the US economy you talk about (for the last 20 years) -- alongside many, many highly educated Americans. I've lived in communities in the US that put FAR more emphasis on higher education than does any Canadian community I've lived in (3 different provinces).

Yes, Canadians were big savers 15 years ago. They are no longer. Because Canadians are as materialistic as Americans are, maybe more so. Canadians are the ones who cross-border shop, after all, in brick and mortar stores and online. And, as my immigrant dad used to say, if owning a home is the American Dream, it's the Canadian Obsession.