As Obama's policies continue to fail and bring the American economy out of the doldrums, the wealth of the average Canadian household has surpassed that of his American counterpart.

And not just by a little, but by $40,000.

US News:

If you're thinking the Canadian advantage must be due to exchange rates, think again. The Canadian dollar has actually caught up to the U.S. dollar in recent years.

"These are not 60-cent dollars, but Canadian dollars more or less at par with the U.S. greenback," Globe and Mail's Michael Adams writes.

To add insult to injury, not only are Canadians comparatively better-off than Americans, they're also more likely to be employed. The unemployment rate is 7.2 percent--and dropping--in Canada, while the U.S. is stuck with a stubbornly high rate of 8.2 percent.

Besides a strengthening currency and a better labor market, experts credit the particularly savage fallout from the financial crisis on the U.S. economy and housing market, which torpedoed home values and gutted household wealth. According to the report, real estate held by Canadians is worth more than $140,000 more on average and they have almost four times as much equity in their real estate investments.

In a column for Bloomberg View, Stephen Marche traces the increasing wealth spread between the two countries to America's "struggles to find its way out of an intractable economic crisis and a political sine curve of hope and despair."

"The Canadian System is working," Marche writes, crediting Canada's cautious, fiscally conservative society. "[T]he American system is not."

Yes, one thing America certainly isn't under Obama's leadership is "cautious" and "fiscally conservative." How did Canada get out from under without spending a trillion dollars in stimulus? Must be smoke and mirrors because everyone knows there's only one way to pull the country out of a recession and that's spend, and spend, and spend some more.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2009:

None of the roots of the recession are to be found in Canada, and Canada, while it has been significantly impacted, is emerging from the global recession in a strong position. Despite the turbulence of recent months, Canadian banks are secure, our markets are expanding, our stimulus is working, our taxes are falling, our long-term fiscal position is solid, and our broader economic assets remain intact. If we stay the course, Canada's future has never looked so bright.

Now, ladies and gentlemen, the foundations of this strong position are rooted in a sound economic philosophy. Our Conservative Government is committed to open borders and free markets, while understanding that markets require prudent, transparent regulation and oversight. Markets are also supported over time by a commitment to social cohesion and responsible social objectives. But likewise, those require long-term fiscal discipline with low and predictable taxes. This is the approach that has guided our actions from the day we took office almost four years ago.

That sounds an awful lot like the Republican plan in early 2009 for stimulus.

Americans lost 40% of their wealth from 2007-10. Until the housing market recovers from the bust -- and Obama's failed policies -- Canadians are likely to continue being richer than their neighbors to the south.