Jessica's Blog

The Occupy movements happening in today’s major cities doesn’t come cheap. The first two months of the protests cost local American taxpayers $13 million “in police overtime and other municipal services” according to the Associated Press. The chair of Vancouver’s finance committee said in an article on Nov. 15 that the costs are within the city’s budget, which at that point had added up to $560,398. The money comes out of a contingency budget used for unexpected circumstances. However, some have argued that the cost has already reached $1 million. Whatever the correct…read more

In Jasmine Chan’s blog post, “A ‘Borrowed’ Culture From the South,” she discusses how some Canadian stores are gradually adopting the concept of America’s Black Friday. But perhaps Canadian retailers should do so more quickly as the shopping extravaganza – which lasts from the day after U.S. Thanksgiving, and now, usually extends until Cyber Monday – could seriously hurt sales. Some Canadian retailers are taking steps to cope with the potential decrease in sales. Sears Canada Inc. and Lululemon Athletica Inc. began offering deals Thursday in the hopes of attracting shoppers before they left…read more

Unlike many countries around the world today, Canada is doing relatively well during these hard economic times. We have a stable, majority government, “sound finances, boundless resources, and an educated work force.” With all these factors boosting our economy, it is causing some concern to see that Canada is not taking advantage of this opportunity to increase its innovation. Many innovative leaders in Canada want government support to start looking into infrastructure plans and widening trade, while generating projects that “create economic activity and jobs.” At the moment, the low productivity is hurting Canada’s…read more

Korean automakers are quickly pulling ahead of their Japanese rivals. As Japanese automakers lose market share, Hyundai and Kia Motors “have grown so rapidly they threaten to overtake Toyota and Nissan Motor Co. as industry leaders.” This appears to be the result of a change in strategy by the Korean automakers. Hyundai, once known for making “cheap, low-quality cars,” has altered production dramatically to improve performance, design, and quality. In other words, it is likely the company switched from a low cost strategy, and has begun to lean towards a differentiation strategy. As a result, Hyundai’s share price increased,…read more

Amazon Inc. will soon join the “tablet wars” when it begins selling its new tablet, the Kindle Fire, this November. This shall prove to be a considerable challenge, as Amazon attempts to compete with the hugely successful Apple iPad. Unfortunately, the Kindle Fire will be sold exclusively in the U.S. with no plans to sell in Canada or any other country in the near future. Furthermore, Amazon’s streaming services are limited in Canada due to high licensing fees, which would restrict the Kindle Fire’s capabilities if it were ever brought to Canada. For now, Canadians will be left with the Apple iPad. From…read more

Bank of America will suffer further financial loss and scrutiny after being ordered by the Labor Department to pay a former employee $930,000 for “violating federal whistleblower protection laws.” The bank was also ordered to reinstate the employee. Bank of America has been swamped with problems ever since they bought Countrywide Financial Corp. Lawsuits, faulty mortgages, and large financial losses have been major worries for the company. And when they fired the aforementioned employee, who they claimed had a conflicting “management style,” they faced an ethical issue as well. According to the Labor Department, the…read more