Comments on: The Fraser Institute and “Average Canadian Family” http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/the-fraser-institute-and-average-canadian-family/ Helping you invest and prosper Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:54:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Ignatieff to fund daycare! | Voice Your Opinon! http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/the-fraser-institute-and-average-canadian-family/#comment-462928 Ignatieff to fund daycare! | Voice Your Opinon! Thu, 31 Mar 2011 16:33:51 +0000 http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/?p=2883#comment-462928 [...] must work then they must pay for daycare. In 2008 the average house hold income was $90,000 (http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/the-fraser-institute-and-average-canadian-family/), and 44% of that went back to the government in taxes which leaves the family with $60,000. Now if [...] [...] must work then they must pay for daycare. In 2008 the average house hold income was $90,000 (http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/the-fraser-institute-and-average-canadian-family/), and 44% of that went back to the government in taxes which leaves the family with $60,000. Now if [...]

]]> By: The Myth of Steadily Rising Taxes | MoneySense http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/the-fraser-institute-and-average-canadian-family/#comment-217465 The Myth of Steadily Rising Taxes | MoneySense Mon, 26 Apr 2010 11:55:11 +0000 http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/?p=2883#comment-217465 [...] statistics hasn’t been one of the Institute’s strengths in the past — See post The Fraser Institute and Average Canadian Family), their own data does not support this conclusion. The following graph, which shows taxes as a [...] [...] statistics hasn’t been one of the Institute’s strengths in the past — See post The Fraser Institute and Average Canadian Family), their own data does not support this conclusion. The following graph, which shows taxes as a [...]

]]> By: The Myth of Steadily Rising Taxes | Canadian Capitalist http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/the-fraser-institute-and-average-canadian-family/#comment-217434 The Myth of Steadily Rising Taxes | Canadian Capitalist Mon, 26 Apr 2010 04:25:09 +0000 http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/?p=2883#comment-217434 [...] statistics hasn’t been one of the Institute’s strengths in the past — See post The Fraser Institute and Average Canadian Family), their own data does not support this conclusion. The following graph, which shows taxes as a [...] [...] statistics hasn’t been one of the Institute’s strengths in the past — See post The Fraser Institute and Average Canadian Family), their own data does not support this conclusion. The following graph, which shows taxes as a [...]

]]> By: Monday, August 31 LinkStuff – End of Summer? « Daily News http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/the-fraser-institute-and-average-canadian-family/#comment-200476 Monday, August 31 LinkStuff – End of Summer? « Daily News Fri, 18 Sep 2009 04:38:14 +0000 http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/?p=2883#comment-200476 [...] Capitalist wrote about the Fraser Institute and the “average family”.  I’ve often wondered about Fraser Institute – they don’t seem to be very [...] [...] Capitalist wrote about the Fraser Institute and the “average family”.  I’ve often wondered about Fraser Institute – they don’t seem to be very [...]

]]> By: Monday, August 31 LinkStuff – End of Summer? http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/the-fraser-institute-and-average-canadian-family/#comment-199235 Monday, August 31 LinkStuff – End of Summer? Mon, 31 Aug 2009 09:01:41 +0000 http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/?p=2883#comment-199235 [...] Capitalist wrote about the Fraser Institute and the “average family”.  I’ve often wondered about Fraser Institute – they don’t seem to be very [...] [...] Capitalist wrote about the Fraser Institute and the “average family”.  I’ve often wondered about Fraser Institute – they don’t seem to be very [...]

]]> By: A Week in Review: Edition #13 - My Money Tree Is Back | My Findependence Day http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/the-fraser-institute-and-average-canadian-family/#comment-199195 A Week in Review: Edition #13 - My Money Tree Is Back | My Findependence Day Sun, 30 Aug 2009 16:15:22 +0000 http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/?p=2883#comment-199195 [...] Canadian Capitalist looks at why you should us median family income statistics instead of average family income. [...] [...] Canadian Capitalist looks at why you should us median family income statistics instead of average family income. [...]

]]> By: Weekly Dividend Investing Roundup – August 29, 2009 | The Dividend Guy Blog http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/the-fraser-institute-and-average-canadian-family/#comment-199109 Weekly Dividend Investing Roundup – August 29, 2009 | The Dividend Guy Blog Sat, 29 Aug 2009 11:03:10 +0000 http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/?p=2883#comment-199109 [...] The Fraser Institute and “Average Canadian Family” [...] [...] The Fraser Institute and “Average Canadian Family” [...]

]]> By: A Lap Of The Blogs : WhereDoesAllMyMoneyGo.com http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/the-fraser-institute-and-average-canadian-family/#comment-199011 A Lap Of The Blogs : WhereDoesAllMyMoneyGo.com Fri, 28 Aug 2009 01:38:49 +0000 http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/?p=2883#comment-199011 [...] Capitalist looks at a report which describes the average Canadian family has a total tax burden of around 45% - is it an exaggeration? Interesting points in the comments section as [...] [...] Capitalist looks at a report which describes the average Canadian family has a total tax burden of around 45% – is it an exaggeration? Interesting points in the comments section as [...]

]]> By: Canadian Capitalist http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/the-fraser-institute-and-average-canadian-family/#comment-198979 Canadian Capitalist Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:00:39 +0000 http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/?p=2883#comment-198979 @Niels: Thank you for your comments. I fail to see how averaging the incomes of families earning between $20K and $120K somehow provides an accurate picture of the income or tax burden of a typical family. As I pointed out in the post, the Fraser Institute's average income estimate is fairly close to StatsCan's figures. Dropping out families with incomes more than $120K might explain why StatsCan's figures are higher. However, the point made in the post stands: the median is significantly different -- median income is 15.5% lower than average and the income tax burden is 33% lower. It is what you'd expect given the skewed nature of income distributions. It may garner much publicity but the use of averages by the Fraser Institute provides a significantly distorted view of the tax burden of the "average" Canadian family. @Niels: Thank you for your comments. I fail to see how averaging the incomes of families earning between $20K and $120K somehow provides an accurate picture of the income or tax burden of a typical family. As I pointed out in the post, the Fraser Institute’s average income estimate is fairly close to StatsCan’s figures. Dropping out families with incomes more than $120K might explain why StatsCan’s figures are higher.

However, the point made in the post stands: the median is significantly different — median income is 15.5% lower than average and the income tax burden is 33% lower. It is what you’d expect given the skewed nature of income distributions.

It may garner much publicity but the use of averages by the Fraser Institute provides a significantly distorted view of the tax burden of the “average” Canadian family.

]]> By: Michael James http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/the-fraser-institute-and-average-canadian-family/#comment-198972 Michael James Thu, 27 Aug 2009 16:38:54 +0000 http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/?p=2883#comment-198972 The rebuttal from Niels Veldhuis, Fraser Institute senior economist is funny. CC's "numerous faulty claims" turn out to be two. The first one basically says, we could have abused the average/median confusion by more than we did. The second one indicates that CC's complaint should be directed at journalists who abuse Fraser institute numbers by choosing the most extreme values and not placing them in the proper context rather than directed the complaint against the institute itself. The content of this rebuttal is very weak compared to the strong claim in the first paragraph. The rebuttal from Niels Veldhuis, Fraser Institute senior economist is funny. CC’s “numerous faulty claims” turn out to be two. The first one basically says, we could have abused the average/median confusion by more than we did. The second one indicates that CC’s complaint should be directed at journalists who abuse Fraser institute numbers by choosing the most extreme values and not placing them in the proper context rather than directed the complaint against the institute itself. The content of this rebuttal is very weak compared to the strong claim in the first paragraph.

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