Month: November 2012

After reading Long Wei Lau’s blog about “Skype or Windows Live Messenger?” I began to look back and think about what made me switch from the once popular Windows Live Messenger to the new trendy Skype. To be honest, I do not remember why I made the switch from Windows to Skype. Long Wei says that Microsoft acquired Skype in 2011 because Skype showed signs of increasing growth and future potential to gain a larger market share, which it is currently fulfilling forecasts. Could this have affected my decision to switch?

I think the reason why I switched from Windows to Skype was purely because my friends started using Skype. But what makes Skype better than Windows Live Messenger? The main point of parity is the ability to communicate conveniently, through instant messaging, voice calling, and video calling. However, the main point of difference between the two is Skype’s ability to facilitate voice calls and video calls to phones, mainly to smart phones, which most people now possess. Looking back at why I made the switch from Windows to Skype, my decision to switch to Skype was mostly unconscious and uninformed. I don’t regret it at all though. Skype makes it very convenient for me to socialize with friends and work on team projects, especially with those who live far away. Somehow, the market had an indirect influence on me to switch to Skype. When I launch my Windows Live Messenger, I have a natural instinct that tells me that I would rather use Skype. But after all, what is the underlying effect that made me and all of my friends switch to Skype?

Blog Link: https://blogs.ubc.ca/longwei93/

When I arrived in Vancouver, I was faced with the same decision that Jasper Rickmers had to deal with. In his blog “The Decision – My First Bank”, he talks about the points of parity and the points of difference upon choosing the bank that would benefit him most. After doing some research and comparing the benefits of the “Canadian Big Six” banks, he realized that he best preferred the CIBC debit card to his current RBC debit card.

Looking back at the past three months I have spent in Vancouver, I sometimes wonder if I should have gotten a Scotiabank debit card like all my friends have. So far, I have spent more than $100 going to the movies whereas my friends have been watching movies for free because of their Scotiabank debit card. Yes, there are benefits to both my HSBC debit card and their Scotiabank debit card. The points of parity for the two banks are accessibility to ATM machines and the freedom to manage your money online. However, the points of difference for these two banks sometimes makes me think which one of the two debit cards are more worth to have.

HSBC offers the benefit of global banking, where I can have access to my money anywhere in the world and allows me to transfer my money from one account to another internationally, which is how my parents transfer money from their bank accounts in Hong Kong to my bank account in Vancouver. On the other hand, Scotiabank offers rewards such as free movies and moneyback benefits that value up to 1% in returned value. This is a question of opportunity cost. In the short run, I would be better off with a Scotiabank debit card in Canada, but in the long run I would prefer to have the HSBC debit card because it will allow flexibility and convenience as I travel more around the world in my later years.

Blog Link: https://blogs.ubc.ca/jasperrickmers/

Jeff Erikson, the senior vice president of SustainAbility, states in his blog that for the world to transition from its current state of a high-carbon economy to a low-carbon economy, the economics of energy must change, such that it must become cheaper to both generate and consume energy with a lower greenhouse gas intensity. In order for this mission to be successful, public policies must be set in ways that encourage low-carbon forms of energy and discourage high-carbon forms of energy.

Although there have been some positive outputs from the most recent Rio+20 sustainable development conference regarding low-carbon solutions, one major unresolved issue is the lack of agreement to end fossil fuel subsidies. Ending fossil fuel subsidies would cause turmoil in the market for both the buyers and sellers, especially to those in less developed countries since the commodities that are usually subsidized are necessities and daily goods. In order for the world to be fully transformed into a low-carbon society, fossil fuel subsidies must be terminated so as to discourage the use of high-carbon energy. Although this means leaving the comfort zone of utilizing highly efficient resources with the cost of high carbon emissions in the short run, it will make the world a more environmentally healthy and sustainable place in the long run.

Article Link: http://www.sustainability.com/blog/the-economics-of-energy-ending-fossil-fuel-subsidies#.UKLgKOOe_lk