August 8, 2009 10:55PM 

# Politicians and Economic Policy 

By [Chris Edwards](https://www.cato.org/people/chris-edwards) 

---

<a class="js-popover-trigger cursor-pointer popover-trigger" data-bs-placement="bottom" data-bs-trigger="click" id="popover-trigger"> 

SHARE 

</a> 

[A recent study compared](http://www.ppforum.ca/sites/default/files/MPs_Presentation_%20Updated.ppt) the members of the lower house in the Canadian legislature to the members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The findings reveal large differences between the two nations in the backgrounds of their federal politicians.

- Share of members with a business or private sector background: Canada 61% vs. U.S. 17%
- Share of members with a background in politics (meaning a prior elected office or a prior job working for a politician): Canada 9% vs. U.S. 71%

Perhaps this explains why [Canada’s economic policies have been far superior to U.S. policies in recent years](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10208).

##### Related Tags 

[Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics) 

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).