Americans tend to think of Canada as a friendly, clean bastion of European-style socialism, replete with cradle to grave entitlements and a perpetually tepid economy. However, over the last few years Canada has set a pace for economic growth that clearly demonstrates that our current economic malaise is escapable.

A paper released Wednesday by the Aspen Institute documents the extent of Canada’s economic strength, noting that Canada managed to bounce back almost entirely from the economic morass of the Great Recession in just two years while the United States continues to struggle with high unemployment, slow economic growth and now the portents of inflation.