What the U.S. Can Learn from Canada's Safety Net + The Real Cost of Private Schools and Clubs
September 23, 2026
AI Summary
5 min readIn the United States, the government now spends more on Immigration and Customs Enforcement than it does on children. One in five households with children are food insecure. The child tax credit gets stripped out of infrastructure bills, yet the $120 billion cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security flies through Congress without resistance. These are not accidents. They are the result of a decades-long transfer of wealth from the young to the old and from the poor to the rich, argues Scott Galloway in this episode. The central question is whether America’s famously risk-aggressive culture — the engine of its extraordinary innovation — has tipped so far toward winner-take-all outcomes that it now undermines the very economic dynamism it claims to protect.
The U.S. vs. Canada: Two Models of Security and Ambition
The episode begins with a listener from Edmonton asking whether Canada’s stronger social safety net kills ambition. Galloway responds with data. The U.S. and Canada spend roughly the same share of their economies on social programs, but they allocate the money very differently. Canada delivers benefits through public programs; the U.S. relies heavily on private ones — employer-sponsored health insurance and pensions chief among them. On average, a Canadian family receives about $21,000 a year in provincial support versus $12,000 from U.S. state programs.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (02:02) **Canada vs. U.S. Safety Net: The Core Trade-off** - Scott frames the question around security versus upside, citing data on startup exits and social program spending in both countries.
- 2 (04:55) **Why America's Safety Net Has "Gone Too Far"** - Scott argues the U.S. has become economically inefficient and inhumane by neglecting basic social protections.
- 3 (08:52) **The Risk Culture of America vs. Europe** - Scott explains that America's risk-aggressive culture is a historical asset, but the lack of a floor has become the "Hunger Games."
- 4 (12:52) **Private Clubs and the Opt-Out of Shared Institutions** - Scott warns that wealthy people increasingly sequestering themselves from public life undermines their investment in America's success.
- 5 (16:16) **The Real Cost of Private Schools** - Scott details how private school spending creates a massive investment gap between wealthy and middle-class children.
- 6 (19:51) **What to Do: Redistribution and Accountability** - Scott proposes a dual approach of more equitable capital distribution and holding public schools to private-sector standards.
- 7 (26:14) **Evaluating New York's DSA Policies: Rent Control** - Scott critiques populist economic policies that are popular in the short term but harmful long term, starting with rent freezes.
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Guests on this episode
Show Notes
Get a first look at the new Office Hours format, with more questions per episode. Starting next week, Office Hours airs exclusively on Mondays.
Scott Galloway tackles whether a stronger safety net dampens ambition, what private schools and clubs cost the communities around them, Mayor Zohran Mamdani's economic agenda, whether America's affordability crisis is real, and the luxury he can't live without.
Want to be featured in a future episode? Send a voice recording to [email protected], or drop your question in the r/ScottGalloway subreddit.
Plus, you can now call or text Scott a question at our new Office Hours hotline: (201) 472-3656
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