Here’s my link to Thomas’s post on Canadian flights.

Finally someone writes about this!
I 100% agree that Canadian air travel is ridiculously overpriced. Whenever we can, my family flies from Bellingham.
It’s all those extra fees that add up (Like those dozens of $1.50 UBC student fees). Ex. Airport improvement fees – really now, how much can airports keep “improving” by? Navigation fees – there’s GPS now so I’d guess that money is going elsewhere. The fees don’t make any sense to be higher in Canada if the same services are provided like any American or European flight.
It comes down to Canadian air travel being somewhat a monopoly, since Air Canada is the dominant driving, well flying force. Air Canada knows that people will pay whatever. Flights from Toronto to Vancouver are inelastic.
I would link this to my perception that tourism is not as strong in Canada due to flight costs for travellers. Trip to Vancouver or LA for half the price? No more lassiez faire attitude, the government needs to intervene. Flights in Canada have to cheapen up if they want to be a strong competitor, both in travel and tourism.

Yesterday my Microeconomic Policy 210 class attended the Fraser Institute Student Seminar. One topic discussed was about BC fisheries, specifically halibut. The speaker, Christopher Sporer, presented the basically the SWOTs of the industry. We later broke out into discussion groups and brought up issues that are concerning.

Sustainablity: What if we overfish? Measures have been implemented: Canada puts a lot quotas on the fisherman and restrictions on the size.

Competition: Halibut is a luxury item and the competition for it is very high, especially between Canada and the USA. Alaska’s industry is no doubt stronger than that of BC, but BC along with the rest of Canada is very stable. The industry is essentially a monopoly, because there are so few distributors and high barriers to entry. I think it needs to turn oligopoly to keep the industry sufficient in Canada.

Economics: Should there be regulation in the fishing industry? If there is high regulation, then Canada may lose out profit. If there is de-regulation, there is a chance that overfishing can lead to no fish at all. Some people argued a more Jeffersn democratic perspective, that there should be a reliance on 2 larger fishing companies rather than 200 smaller ones.

My entire family has Indian names, and I alone am white. Reading The Vancouver Sun one morning, I finally understood what my parents meant by “making it easier” for me by naming me Rachael.

UofT researchers found that resumes with English names were 35% or more likely to get a callback than an Chinese, Indian, or Greek name. Out of Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouber, however, the study discovered Metro Vancouver employers were the least swayed by the ethnicity of applicants’ names (good job, Vancouver). The researchers interviewed employers who said they were highly concerned that job applicants with foreign backgrounds would have inadequate English and social skills for the Canadian marketplace.

I was a little puzzled by the article. What if the applicant is Canadian-born but has an ethnic name; is the study still accurate? If so, then this brings us back to ethics we talked about in class 3. It’s discrimination. I understand the worry of English skills if an applicant is actually foreign, but with Canadian-borns there is no excuse. Shouldn’t it just come down to who is more qualified for a position? It’s like a book, the title only tells so much; you actually have to read it.

Oh the Kardashians. You love them, you hate them, you love to hate them. But one cannot deny that they are smart business women.

In 2010, the Kardashians earned $65 million. That looks likes pennies compared to the profits from 2011. They are smartly using their fame to succeed into new business ventures. With their reality shows, perfumes, and K-Dash clothing line already so successful, the addition of Khloe, Kim, and Kourtney’s Kardashian Kollection for Sears is estimated to rake in between $200-$300 MILLION! A smart busienss move they will be taking is expansion, to countries like the U.K. and Italy.

This business venture actually really impresses me. I just thought they were reality stars that did nothing. I recently started watching the show and when I heard about the Sears deal, I was in complete awe. The Kardashians are using their fame in a beneficial way, so that even if their show is cancelled or people forget about them, they still have other means of income.

Also they are launching an OPI nail polish line. And an expansion from clothing with the Sears brand!

Now I see why the show’s called Keeping Up With the Kardashians. Let the empire grow!

Reference:

http://ca.eonline.com/news/surprise_surprisemdashthe_kardashians/268555