Monthly Archives: October 2015

Currently, the topic on every citizens mind seems to be the recent rise in minimum wage. Certain groups are very much in support of the wage increase, arguing that climbing wages will put more money in the hands of consumers, in turn leading to a rise in the economy. Along with this, these escalating wages will significantly add to the gross domestic income. As a result, people who normally would be saving every penny, now how excess money to potentially put back into the economy. Despite the obvious positives of increasing the minimum wage, I still find myself skeptical that it will benefit the social welfare of Canadians over all. Though employees who are currently earning minimum wage will be more than satisfied, recent hires or those looking to be hired will likely not show as much support for the change. For many companies, a direct result of the hike in minimum wage will be making less hires. Instead of hiring ten people at $10.00’s an hour they’ll hire nine people at $11.00 an hour. Therefore their profit margins will not take any sort of hit. Unfortunately, I see this bringing forth not only a higher unemployment rate, but also more work for employees to compensate for the lost set of hands. Even though the goal of raising minimum wage was to allow for people to flourish in society, the result is actually going to be a higher unemployment rate. People who could have been struggling to make money could now be making no money at all. Another question that I’ve considered is in regards to the increase of all wages, not just minimum wage. Will companies raise their wages for all workers, or will they pay the same for a minimum wage job that they do for a higher up position. If workers in promoted positions earn the same amount as everyone else, they may begin to question why they even put effort into getting promoted. Inevitably this could lead to a lack of incentive in the workforce as well. In conclusion, it may be best to simply leave the minimum wage as it is, to avoid risking the many negatives that could surface from raising it.

https://mises.ca/posts/blog/the-world-view-behind-minimum-wage-advocacy/

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/five-provinces-hike-minimum-wage/article26618941/

Similar to myself, I am sure many of you have faced the frustration of dealing with erratic adds popping up any time you open apps or the internet. Often, the best way for companies to get their name on the consumer radar is through pop up advertisement, especially on websites or apps that are homologous to their own. Unfortunately, for users like you and me this means getting disrupted constantly to view what is usually irrelevant and distracting material. Thanks to Apple’s most recent iOS update, our problems are finally seeing an end. Now the new software enables iPhone users to download ad blocking apps, putting a stop to any intrusive adds appearing on screen. Despite immediate consumer approval displayed by several ad blocking applications reaching the top charts, not everyone is so pleased. As a result of the blocking apps being released websites using advertising to make a profit are the ones facing all the consequences. No advertiser is going to pay a company to promote their product if all promotions can be blocked. Along with this, the companies doing the advertising are already facing a dramatic drop in sales. The question that is now on my mind is whether the slight benefit of an interruption free search experience, is worth the negative side effects for many businesses. Scrutiny against the blocking apps has caused a few of them to reassess their idea, and allowing what would be thought of as “good” ads to be seen, and “bad” ads to be blocked. However, the question now is what qualifies as a good and bad advertisement. What this brought to my attention, is that instead of complaining about drops in sales, suppliers should be taking a look at how many people are interested in ridding their phones of these annoying advertisements. Potentially, what they thought was bringing in all the capital, was actually driving customers away from these companies. An outcome of this ad blocking release could actually be the reinvention of the way businesses promote their new product. Businesses will have to find a way to make their product known, while simultaneously avoiding being a bother to consumers.

http://www.dogtownmedia.com/ad-blocking-software-threat-opportunity-mobile-app-developers/