Various economic commentators such as Tyler Cowen are scratching their heads over why the single country most similar to the United States, Canada, hasn't yet had a gigantic banking crisis. It must be some subtle technical difference in bank regulations!

Yet, you'll notice that most of the losses on mortgage defaults in the U.S., which set off the American crisis, were concentrated in four states, none of which are anywhere near Canada: California, Arizona, Nevada, and Florida.

Daniel Patrick Moynihan used to note that the rate of social problems such as crime, illegitimacy, and dropping out of high school were lower in states closer to the Canadian border. He liked to recommend to policymakers that this data implied that they should attempt to move their states up closer to Canada, although he never, to the best of my knowledge, suggested how.