Article: http://business.financialpost.com/2011/04/23/smart-phone-money/
"With the first Interac Flash-capable cards expected to become available to Bank of Nova Scotia and Royal Bank of Canada customers this summer, the payment provider has no intention of stopping there. Flash is the first stage in a much longer process, Mr. Wright explained."
Woah, flash is the first stage so, how many stages are there? The second stage explains that Interac will need to take flash and incoporate it into the mobile phone device, with the NCF function. Most researchers say approximately by 2012 we should have all virtual cards up and running. They estimated 2012 as the year for release because testimonials, companies, visa, master, anything you can name of, has already begun testing the feature of it.
“That wave of youngsters is where we could eventually see the phasing out of things like wallets in the much longer term.” Most of the new generation of people will become use to it however, perhaps old generation citizens such as retired people or, people who are not tech savvy will not phase out with the new technology coming out. As the article mentioned, the physical wallet wont fade away because just as with, printed books and newspapers, many people will still prefer the tactile experience of a currency holder over the convenience of a digital alternative.
Competitors who are fighting for online instant transactions will be affected the most. Industries who use online payment such as, Paypal, Google Money, Money West, etc. Small industries who sometimes use cash only for payments, especially when people work in the trades industries. Majority of the times in the trade industries, consumers pay cash.
Obviously banks will make money from this gain. Using virtual cards definitely come with a fee of a certain amount of transaction used. As well as Visa and Master companies will also benefit from this. Any company that would be using the Virtual card feature for consumers needs will benefit.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
The Great Depression
1) The Great depression can be defined as an awful worldwide economic depression in the decade towards World War II. Great depression began in about 1929 and last for a good 10 years. This depression began in the U.S.; fall in stock prices was the first notice of depression. A few months later the whole stock market crashed which also infected many other countries.
2) In 2001, the housing market began to pick up due home financing options that could get almost anyone into a home. Basically, the current recession began when bank companies and loaning companies lend money to consumers. Consumers didn’t realize that they would have to pay double the money they borrowed because the interest rate was extraordinary. Once this effect was in-play another cycle of symptoms occurred. House value dropped, jobs crashed, businesses went in debt, and mortgage companies were out of business.
3) There were two presidents at the time that presented U.S., Herbert Hoover, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Hoover felt that the government shouldn’t help which is quite ridiculous. He believed that private charities such as The Red Cross and the Salvation Army. Government’s tried to end the recession, help the poor, labor unions became stronger.
4) Technology, legal rights and freedom, internet was still weak at the time.
5) It affected United States GDP greatly. GDP means total spending of the country. So obviously, during the depression GDP was very low due to majority of the consumers being very poor. Consumers saving up money constantly and spending very little on necessities, of course the GDP of United States will go down.
6) I think the Great Depression made more of an impact on the world because, it’s just catastrophic. Especially, if it was during around the 90’s. The Current Recession occurred around the 21st century which it isn’t such a big deal because majority of the countries have technology, more population, more intellectual people, and wealthier people. But definitely, the Great depression was worse; governments had no idea what to do during the time of depression.
Chapter 6, Gasoline Prices
Article: http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/daily-news/110412-Gas-Price-Rise-Americans-Drive-Less/
Summary:
Apparently, American citizens are experiencing a elastic change in gas prices. The sudden increase of prices were so sudden that it caused citizens to drive less. Which is a good thing however, they're are pros and cons to this situation. As stated in the article, "the average price of gas is an obvious indicator of why national fuel consumption is dropping. At the end of March, companies reported that gas reached an average of $3.60 nationally." The worse case scenario that could likely occur is that consumers could pay more than $5 dollars a gallon (Note that every gallon = approximately 4 litres) due to the insufficient supplies.
It's also been stated by a president from the Shell Oil company that again, $5 dollars a gallon could happen during 2012. As I mentioned before, companies noticed that consumers are responding to the changes in gas prices and that is good because eventually the prices of gas will have to deflate in order to create demand again.
Connection:
In chapter 6 we discussed mostly about aggregate demand because it was important to know what it meant. As we all know Aggregate demand is the total demand for goods and services in the economy also there is a similar term to aggregate demand which is Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Aggregate demand could be the curve that tells you what level of goods demanded at each price level whereas, GDP is actual level of goods exchanged.
So back on-topic, there are several factors that could affect gasoline prices such as expecations and prices. Since gasoline prices are inflating and consumer behaviour is changing, the prices are likely to influence the level of consumer spending because the change of prices made a impact with consumers. Expectations could be another factor due to the predicament of gasoline prices. Since the article mentioned that by 2012, the gasoline prices could possibly increase to $5 dollars a gallon then in that case consumers could expect themselves to purchase gas prices right now and learn to save. Then once 2012 comes, consumers are assumed to more likely cut back on spending and increase on their savings also note that, this will cause an impact on the total level of consumption to drop.
Reflection:
Over here in Canada, gas prices are around $1 to $1.30 per litre. So United States gas prices could be a $1 dollar different from ours which is quite significant. I would like to discuss about the GDP of United States relating to this article. Perhaps United States, GDP is still probably the first but eventually it will decrease because I have begun to notice that Americans are more focus on saving their earnings rather than spending. This is probably why our currency comparison with US is almost the same as well as, our GDP is increasing slowly. In my opinion, this article was quite interesting because I was able to discussed certain factors that affected GDP and discussing about a countries GDP can be quite exciting.
Summary:
Apparently, American citizens are experiencing a elastic change in gas prices. The sudden increase of prices were so sudden that it caused citizens to drive less. Which is a good thing however, they're are pros and cons to this situation. As stated in the article, "the average price of gas is an obvious indicator of why national fuel consumption is dropping. At the end of March, companies reported that gas reached an average of $3.60 nationally." The worse case scenario that could likely occur is that consumers could pay more than $5 dollars a gallon (Note that every gallon = approximately 4 litres) due to the insufficient supplies.
It's also been stated by a president from the Shell Oil company that again, $5 dollars a gallon could happen during 2012. As I mentioned before, companies noticed that consumers are responding to the changes in gas prices and that is good because eventually the prices of gas will have to deflate in order to create demand again.
Connection:
In chapter 6 we discussed mostly about aggregate demand because it was important to know what it meant. As we all know Aggregate demand is the total demand for goods and services in the economy also there is a similar term to aggregate demand which is Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Aggregate demand could be the curve that tells you what level of goods demanded at each price level whereas, GDP is actual level of goods exchanged.
So back on-topic, there are several factors that could affect gasoline prices such as expecations and prices. Since gasoline prices are inflating and consumer behaviour is changing, the prices are likely to influence the level of consumer spending because the change of prices made a impact with consumers. Expectations could be another factor due to the predicament of gasoline prices. Since the article mentioned that by 2012, the gasoline prices could possibly increase to $5 dollars a gallon then in that case consumers could expect themselves to purchase gas prices right now and learn to save. Then once 2012 comes, consumers are assumed to more likely cut back on spending and increase on their savings also note that, this will cause an impact on the total level of consumption to drop.
Reflection:
Over here in Canada, gas prices are around $1 to $1.30 per litre. So United States gas prices could be a $1 dollar different from ours which is quite significant. I would like to discuss about the GDP of United States relating to this article. Perhaps United States, GDP is still probably the first but eventually it will decrease because I have begun to notice that Americans are more focus on saving their earnings rather than spending. This is probably why our currency comparison with US is almost the same as well as, our GDP is increasing slowly. In my opinion, this article was quite interesting because I was able to discussed certain factors that affected GDP and discussing about a countries GDP can be quite exciting.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Unemployment rates rises up in January
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/Economics/Unemployment-Rate.aspx?Symbol=CAD
Summary
So the Canadian employment rate increased by 0.2 percent and as a result, it ended up being 7.8%. During January's employment increase was evenly split between full time and part time to calculate employment rates. People who are currently working and people who are searching for jobs. In January, employments in business, building and other support services, all demanded more employees because they realized the high unemployment rate percentages.
As well as many other jobs were hiring such as public administration, transportation services, and food services. But back in December, that's when unemployment began to increase.
Connection
In chapter 15, Unemployment rate is indicated as one life indicator of the economy. Unemployment is one of the main economic causes of low quality of life. Reasons for unemployment would involved factors such as, frictional, seasonal, structeral, insurance induced or natural. In this case, the article discusses how there were losses in employment at the end of December and this probably due to seasonal factors where, winter has ended. This relates to the article because we live in Canada and isn't scary to hear that our unemployment rate is almost at 10%? Assuming this is accurate we can take the whole population of Canada which is approximately 32,000,000 and divide by 10%, as a result we end up with 3,200,000 people unemployed. All those people are either searching for jobs, gave up on searching, running on unemployment benefits, and just sitting at home doing nothing. In our class discussion, we discussed that you are not considered unemployed if you are a student, retired, or under the age to work.
Reflection
I know a few people in my family who are unemployed and gave up in searching for a job. Instead of looking for a job, they started a small business to generate revenue. I'm not saying you should start a small business if you can't find a job but, if you have nothing else to do, why not give it a shot? In the states you see people who are unemployed and try to take advantage of the unemployment benefits until they find a job. Referring back to the article, I'm curious what happen during December when there was losses of employees. Shouldn't December be the prime time to hire employees because of the holidays? However, article does not provide that information but assuming some sort of economic issued occurred during December such as, due to Decembers seasonality jobs, perhaps people were unemployed at the end of December. We're in March now which is only 2 months pass January and again, doesn't this 8% unemployment rate in Canada, scare us or affect our economy greatly? I know I seem over exaggerated about the unemployment rate but, referring to the quality of life indicators, France and Germany have the highest unemployment rate back in 2006 as well as, in other developing countries the unemployment rate is also high. We were the third highest in unemployment rate back in 2006 and now its 2011. 5 years after our unemployment rate has increased to two percent? Again, doesn't this scare us?
Summary
So the Canadian employment rate increased by 0.2 percent and as a result, it ended up being 7.8%. During January's employment increase was evenly split between full time and part time to calculate employment rates. People who are currently working and people who are searching for jobs. In January, employments in business, building and other support services, all demanded more employees because they realized the high unemployment rate percentages.
As well as many other jobs were hiring such as public administration, transportation services, and food services. But back in December, that's when unemployment began to increase.
Connection
In chapter 15, Unemployment rate is indicated as one life indicator of the economy. Unemployment is one of the main economic causes of low quality of life. Reasons for unemployment would involved factors such as, frictional, seasonal, structeral, insurance induced or natural. In this case, the article discusses how there were losses in employment at the end of December and this probably due to seasonal factors where, winter has ended. This relates to the article because we live in Canada and isn't scary to hear that our unemployment rate is almost at 10%? Assuming this is accurate we can take the whole population of Canada which is approximately 32,000,000 and divide by 10%, as a result we end up with 3,200,000 people unemployed. All those people are either searching for jobs, gave up on searching, running on unemployment benefits, and just sitting at home doing nothing. In our class discussion, we discussed that you are not considered unemployed if you are a student, retired, or under the age to work.
Reflection
I know a few people in my family who are unemployed and gave up in searching for a job. Instead of looking for a job, they started a small business to generate revenue. I'm not saying you should start a small business if you can't find a job but, if you have nothing else to do, why not give it a shot? In the states you see people who are unemployed and try to take advantage of the unemployment benefits until they find a job. Referring back to the article, I'm curious what happen during December when there was losses of employees. Shouldn't December be the prime time to hire employees because of the holidays? However, article does not provide that information but assuming some sort of economic issued occurred during December such as, due to Decembers seasonality jobs, perhaps people were unemployed at the end of December. We're in March now which is only 2 months pass January and again, doesn't this 8% unemployment rate in Canada, scare us or affect our economy greatly? I know I seem over exaggerated about the unemployment rate but, referring to the quality of life indicators, France and Germany have the highest unemployment rate back in 2006 as well as, in other developing countries the unemployment rate is also high. We were the third highest in unemployment rate back in 2006 and now its 2011. 5 years after our unemployment rate has increased to two percent? Again, doesn't this scare us?
Monday, January 31, 2011
Corporate taxes soon to be... reduced?
Article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/commentary/barrie-mckenna/corporate-tax-cut-dispute-bit-of-a-yawn-for-us-businesses/article1887887/comments/#page
Summary
So, it has finally come to Harper's attention or should I say... Canada to realize that U.S's business is substantially doing better than us. Apparently, Harper wants to cut corporate taxes from 19.5 percent to 15 percent next year and in order for this to actually happen, Harper has to battle this out politically. Other parties don't seem to agree with this idea because what would people really benefit from this? Due to past recessions, companies have gone downhill and U.S companies still make up a significant chunk of the Canadian business landscape. Jason Myers president of the Canadian manufacturers and exporters quoted that "the lower tax rate makes their profits look better in Canada, but that just means they are taxed more in the United States."Probably most of the population of Canada would want this.
Connection
This article links toward our discussion with Chapter 4 due to involvement of taxation in the government of Canada which is, one of the main taxes that the government makes income. Generally speaking, lowering corporate tax could perhaps bring benefits such as, increase minimum wages, decrease in unemployments, and higher standards of living. Which clearly, would make us quite satisfied to actually encourage ourselves to open up more businesses because we have the slight advantages over U.S.
Reflection
Personally I do not think this going to turn out so peacefully, I remember the last time Harper promised something economically and ended up failing for it. He made matters worse by cutting jobs and then the recession came where workers were laid off. Then on top of that, came the HST which even put more pressure towards employees who were going to be laid off. However, if things do turn out the way Harper planned then U.S and Canada companies would both make more profit. Thing is, the article is quite misleading, the author say's "the problem is that U.S-based companies, unlike most foreign countries, are taxed by the International Revenue Service on their global income. So any profits they don't reinvent and try to repatriate are hit with higher U.S rate, not the Canadian rate." First of off, there're some U.S companies actually running businesses in Canada and earning income so, you're definitely going to get taxed by the Canadian rate. Damn the U.S are smart but, I really do prefer to lower the corporate tax rates to bring a little bit more... satisfaction to us.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Chapter 2 Supply & Demand
http://www.edn.com/article/509611-iPhone_4_supply_and_demand_issues_could_hurt_Apple_brand.php
Summary
It seems that the supply and demands for iPhone 4 is substantially increasing everyday. Accoring to the reports from a company called "iSuppli", predicted that Apple will have issues with supply and demands and it could come back to bite them. Obviously, if this issue occurs than consumers will just go buy other smart-phones instead.
Apple recorded 600,000 units for the iPhone 4 on the first day of pre-odering.They literally had to stop the pre-orders after just one day. What's even more frustrating is that, Apple has kept pushing back the release date and causing more aggravation towards consumers. Consumers are questioning Apples supply-chain management capability, have begun to leaned towards substitute products (nokia, blackberry, etc). Probably the reason why Apple has been pushing back the date was because they attempted to fix the antenna issue which, causes poor receptions and dropped calls.
iSuppli stated that Apple will ship approximately 21.7 million iPhone 4s in 2010 which is... a lot. As of today the iPhone is in rank third in smart-phone player, ranking barely below Nokia and Blackberry. iSuppli also noted that, "With threats coming from every corner of the market, Can Apple afford another slip in its supply chain management?"
Connection
This article relates to what we have discussed about supply and demands. In order for Apple to stay in the competition they need to focus more on consumer needs. If they don't change this behaviour then eventually Nokia and Blackberry will take over the smart-phone competition. I'm sure Apple has no problems producing more iPhones but they're sure smart to make 21.7 million iPhone 4s. Other countries are also demanding for this product as well, in fact there are so many demands, I don't think Apple can keep up.
It's definitely a consumer behaviour problem and tastes / preferences. However, there are substitute products (again, other smart-phones such as Blackberry and Nokia) but thing is, I personally think Apple "does not care". If Apple does not comply to the demands, they will have to think of a proper solution. I do understand that there are many choices they can do but it may be risk-taking, do they want to increase prices on iPhones or should they produce even more iPhone 4s?
Reflection
First, the factors in this case are definitely taste and preferences and substitute products. Can Apple attend to consumer behaviour needs? Probably the main reason why is because they don't want to waste so much production cost. Can or cannot meet the demands? I'm positive Apple can meet the demands but again, there is just too much competition out there.
In my opinion, I think the best solution would be to increase the prices on iPhone 4s. Although I think Apple is not willing to take that risk because they're afraid of losing profit. However, the consumers who need it badly can pay to get it (first come first serve). But, for those who can't afford the price increase will probably have to wait until the price drops.
Summary
It seems that the supply and demands for iPhone 4 is substantially increasing everyday. Accoring to the reports from a company called "iSuppli", predicted that Apple will have issues with supply and demands and it could come back to bite them. Obviously, if this issue occurs than consumers will just go buy other smart-phones instead.
Apple recorded 600,000 units for the iPhone 4 on the first day of pre-odering.They literally had to stop the pre-orders after just one day. What's even more frustrating is that, Apple has kept pushing back the release date and causing more aggravation towards consumers. Consumers are questioning Apples supply-chain management capability, have begun to leaned towards substitute products (nokia, blackberry, etc). Probably the reason why Apple has been pushing back the date was because they attempted to fix the antenna issue which, causes poor receptions and dropped calls.
iSuppli stated that Apple will ship approximately 21.7 million iPhone 4s in 2010 which is... a lot. As of today the iPhone is in rank third in smart-phone player, ranking barely below Nokia and Blackberry. iSuppli also noted that, "With threats coming from every corner of the market, Can Apple afford another slip in its supply chain management?"
Connection
This article relates to what we have discussed about supply and demands. In order for Apple to stay in the competition they need to focus more on consumer needs. If they don't change this behaviour then eventually Nokia and Blackberry will take over the smart-phone competition. I'm sure Apple has no problems producing more iPhones but they're sure smart to make 21.7 million iPhone 4s. Other countries are also demanding for this product as well, in fact there are so many demands, I don't think Apple can keep up.
It's definitely a consumer behaviour problem and tastes / preferences. However, there are substitute products (again, other smart-phones such as Blackberry and Nokia) but thing is, I personally think Apple "does not care". If Apple does not comply to the demands, they will have to think of a proper solution. I do understand that there are many choices they can do but it may be risk-taking, do they want to increase prices on iPhones or should they produce even more iPhone 4s?
Reflection
First, the factors in this case are definitely taste and preferences and substitute products. Can Apple attend to consumer behaviour needs? Probably the main reason why is because they don't want to waste so much production cost. Can or cannot meet the demands? I'm positive Apple can meet the demands but again, there is just too much competition out there.
In my opinion, I think the best solution would be to increase the prices on iPhone 4s. Although I think Apple is not willing to take that risk because they're afraid of losing profit. However, the consumers who need it badly can pay to get it (first come first serve). But, for those who can't afford the price increase will probably have to wait until the price drops.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Chapter 1 : Scarcity In Water
Article : http://www.scidev.net/en/opinions/we-need-a-new-metric-for-water-scarcity-in-africa.html
Summary
In Africa, citizens are in huge demand for water because of the dry season. There are also other nations and regions dealing with scarcity as well. However, if this cycle of how we consume fresh water continues then we will definitely become limited to having water. One of the most important problems that are causing water to become scarce is due to the climate change and this is a major problem because it cannot be solved. Richard Taylor says "we need a new metric for water scarcity" but I really don't think that's the case here. I don't think a metric would provide enough specific data anyways, so they really aren't brainstorming properly. He also argued that this problem can also be solved by having improved water storage, wastewater recycling or desalination (removing salt from the water to make it drinkable). He stated that if people fail to adapt to this then their will be consequences. Examples like ruining crops, water diseases, and a big hit in our ecosystem.
Connection / Reflection
It has now come to my attention that people are now realizing the scarcity of water. I agree with what Richard stated, but as said before, having the idea of having to create a new metric would take awhile plus, it provides data that is not specific. Referring to one of the comments, he stated that "calculating water scarcity by soil moisture is a better idea". This totally makes more sense because a lot of plants out there all have the ability to absorb water with their roots. What ideas would you come up with to make water less consumable? In my opinion, cut less water usage, charge water usage (excessive usage), and making water more expensive in the trade market industries.
Summary
In Africa, citizens are in huge demand for water because of the dry season. There are also other nations and regions dealing with scarcity as well. However, if this cycle of how we consume fresh water continues then we will definitely become limited to having water. One of the most important problems that are causing water to become scarce is due to the climate change and this is a major problem because it cannot be solved. Richard Taylor says "we need a new metric for water scarcity" but I really don't think that's the case here. I don't think a metric would provide enough specific data anyways, so they really aren't brainstorming properly. He also argued that this problem can also be solved by having improved water storage, wastewater recycling or desalination (removing salt from the water to make it drinkable). He stated that if people fail to adapt to this then their will be consequences. Examples like ruining crops, water diseases, and a big hit in our ecosystem.
Connection / Reflection
It has now come to my attention that people are now realizing the scarcity of water. I agree with what Richard stated, but as said before, having the idea of having to create a new metric would take awhile plus, it provides data that is not specific. Referring to one of the comments, he stated that "calculating water scarcity by soil moisture is a better idea". This totally makes more sense because a lot of plants out there all have the ability to absorb water with their roots. What ideas would you come up with to make water less consumable? In my opinion, cut less water usage, charge water usage (excessive usage), and making water more expensive in the trade market industries.
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