Canada is likely to encounter some serious real estate issues over the next few years, though I probably wouldn't use the "collapse" word to describe it. We are already beginning to see year over year declines in real estate prices for the first time in years, and our decline is just beginning. You will still see many articles that state that our mortgage lending is "different" than that in the US, and this is somewhat true, but the banks, CMHC and ultimately the government are sitting on mortgages that were approved with very flexible criteria (particularly business for self). We also had 100% "A" financing until a few days ago, a fair number of those borrowers already have negative equity. Commodities are also a key element of our economy...
I hope not Switzerland, there would be no safe place to keep our money. I lived there for 4 years, and most of the banks are very very conservative. very hard to get any loan, most of the people rent despite very high wages. I would be surprised if this country fails.
from what i know switzerland is a pretty cool country, wealth per person is the highest in their country, though I'm not sure of the wealth distribution, and they're not part of the EU
it's a very cool country if you don't care about entertainment...it's beautiful, peaceful, secure and boring. One day I would like to retire there. The wealth distribution is very similar to a socialist country, no kidding...for a example: the cleaning lady, or coffee shop service makes about 2.5-3.5k CHF per month, and average pay for a decent office job is around 4-5.5k CHF per month (starter pay, but it doesn't go much higher) I knew a guy who had a very high position at UBS and he only made 7k a month (twice as much as the cleaning lady
wealth distribution is even in *ALL* industrialized nations that do not have Mexico and illegal immigration in their back yard. In Canada a regular 19 year old roofer apprentice makes more than a starting nurse salary. In Japan, some cab drivers make as much as the average salary man. Swiss is a cool place if you have high income from outside the country.
hmm ... ya that's not good for everyone, I think engineers are underpaid in the US too, so that would be even worse ... by the way US is boring too
In answer to the original question, Spain gets my vote. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122369424667425525.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
I don't think that people inn Switzerland are necessarily underpaid, but that the lowest income is still high, not comparable to the US. and yes, US is boring too...I've been here for 5 years, and you people are not very entertaining...ahhah....well, more time for me to focus on the job