I agree with David’s blog, I also believe that in the long run, the lack of useful innovation from Microsoft will cause more people to shift towards buying a Mac. Years from now, when many people decide that their computers running on Windows 7 are too old and decide to to buy a new computer, they’ll hesitate to buy a computer that runs on Windows 8 since it has nothing great to offer. Subsequently, they’ll look for a better alternative, which in most cases will be a Mac.

Blog:https://blogs.ubc.ca/davidprestage/

Nathan Ho mentioned in his blog post that university graduates are struggling to find work, while this is certainly true, I think that there are also many factors that influence the future of a business student other than his degree. For instance, with the supplemental application prospective Sauder students have to prove that they’re proactive rather than just being able to get good grades in high school. For reasons such as this one, a business student doesn’t just have a different degree than an arts student, but they’re also a different kind of person. Hopefully we’ll be able to differentiate ourselves enough to secure a job.

Blog: https://blogs.ubc.ca/nathanho/

It seems the economy is about to fall off a cliff. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 185 points today because of grim prognostics in the future of the world economy. The price of oil rose because of Israel’s surgical strike on a Hamas leader, and stocks in the U.S. keep dropping in response to the uncertainty of the U.S’s budget for next year. President Obama warned that if the Republicans and he don’t reach a suitable budget, the economy could easily fall into another recession.

President Obama said he’s open for ideas and that he will try to reach an agreement with the Republican congressional leaders in upcoming talks. It is likely that the Republicans will give small concessions to Obama and the economy will, at least for a little longer, stay on top of the cliff.

Sources :http://business.financialpost.com/2012/11/14/we-could-go-back-into-recession-obama-calls-for-rich-to-pay-more/

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-14/asia-stocks-fluctuate-as-china-congress-ends-aussie-strengthens.html

http://etfdailynews.com/2012/07/27/u-s-economy-17-reasons-why-a-recession-in-2012-is-underway-indexsp-inx-spy-tza-faz-gld/

UrtheCast is an incredible business venture that will commence in the next year.

After listening to Wade Larson, the Co-Founder of UrtheCast, a lot of  interesting question arise. Firstly, will UrtheCast start a new market  of commercial space photography? How beneficial will UrtheCast’s  contract with Russia be for the nation’s interest? And will it cause  other countries to create partnerships with UrtheCast? I speculate a  positive response to all my questions; but we’ll have to wait and see the results after UrtheCast’s inauguration.

Sources: http://www.urthecast.com/blog/about/

Wade Larson talk at Sauder School of Business on November 8th

http://www.404techsupport.com/2012/08/urthecast-247-live-hd-streaming-video-of-earth-from-the-iss-coming-next-year/

Unfortunately, it seems Canada isn’t quite yet in the clear. According to TransUnion, Canadian debt is increasing at a rate 400% higher than inflation over the last five years, and non-mortgage debt increased in the second quarter of this year. Experts speculate that this is due to a lack of alarming headlines; Europe’s bad news have started to dissipate, and the U.S. is reporting job growth. So people have to started to buy new cars and luxuries again, but if the spending doesn’t stop soon, Canada will face an economic downturn again.

Source:  http://business.financialpost.com/2012/11/14/canadians-debt-loads-grew-at-fastest-pace-in-two-years-during-summer-spending-spree/

Soundcloud has an amazing point of difference. It is the first social media website which succesfully allows individuals to share their own musical creations, much like Youtube allows its users to share their experiences through video, Soundcloud allows its users to share their experiences and interests through music files. Unlike the other social media websites like Facebook, Youtube and others, Soundcloud doesn’t create its revenue through advertisement, it lets users interact and use the website for free and also offers a premium service at a cost. Soundcloud has grown steadily since inception and will clearly continue to do so because since it already has millions of users, it will be very difficult for a new competitor to dislodge Soundcloud from its current position.

Sources: http://www.fastcompany.com/most-innovative-companies/2012/soundcloud

http://www.sonicscoop.com/2012/06/24/inside-soundcloud-how-it-integrates-with-other-apps-and-why-that-matters-to-music-creators/

Wide spread poverty across developing nations is common knowledge among the citizens of developed countries, yet the solution to this problem isn’t. Most people simply donate money to build a school or some very small contribution which invariable gets lost before it makes a real impact in the lives of the impoverished. Root Capital is the most prominent organization fixing the problem.

The World Bank estimates that a growth in the agricultural sector will be twice as effective at reducing poverty in an economy as any other respective sector. Root Capital provides loans to small business, so that they can buy sustainably grown produce from farmers, and hold a constant stream of income for the many families which make a living from growing produce.

Sources: http://www.forbes.com/sites/helencoster/2011/11/30/forbes-list-of-the-top-30-social-entrepreneurs/

http://www.rootcapital.org/about-us

http://www.clintonbushhaitifund.org/pages/Root-Capital/

Aside from the obvious shivering I get from thinking that another nation will have the power to kill thousands of people in seconds, It’s also interesting to note the impact of pursuing nuclear energy is having on Iran’s economy.

Iran’s economy is essentially contracting as resources aren’t being properly utilized, but more significantly, as foreign nations cut ties with Iran; Such as the oil embargo imposed by the EU. Hopefully when the Iranian elections come, the power will shift to someone with more conservative and peaceful views.

Sources: http://www.economist.com/node/21564229

http://emergency-usa.blogspot.ca/2011/05/iran-nuclear-plant-fully-operational.html

In my opinion, this is yet another clear indicator of the economy`s direction. Since the rate of young Canadians living at home has been rising steadily since at least 1981, It`s fairly clear that young Canadians are having less and less opportunities in the past 30 years. Coupled with the ever rising price of real estate it`s easy to understand why this trend is happening. Hopefully Jim Flaherty`s initiative to decrease the price of real estate will actually drive the prices down, and housing will become more accessible. That way the Sauder class of 2016 won`t be living with their parents until they`re 30.

Sources: http://business.financialpost.com/2012/10/06/letting-your-adult-kids-move-back-home-comes-at-a-price/

http://gawker.com/5581481/being-young-and-unemployed-sure-is-trendy

Hurricane Sandy certainly caused tremendous amounts of damage to local infrastructure and businesses in New York and New Jersey, but perhaps the greatest impact it had on business happened to the Supply Chains of businesses.

Most of the damage, however, could have been averted.  As Bryan Knotts discusses in his blog post: “Supply Chain Disruptions Like Hurricane Sandy Are No Longer Outliers”, most of the damage could have minimized if business had kept tighter controls on their supply chains. With today’s technology, any product could be tracked at any point in the supply chain with great accuracy, yet most businesses don’t use such technology; as a result, when disasters like Hurricane Sandy strike, many products are simply lost somewhere along the supply line. Perhaps business will keep better control of their inventory after losing millions to Hurricane Sandy.

Blog: http://blog.apptricity.com/default.aspx?Author=Brian%20Knotts

Blog post: http://bx.businessweek.com/supply-chain-performance/view?url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.apptricity.com%2Fbid%2F241154%2FSupply-Chain-Disruptions-Like-Hurricane-Sandy-Are-No-Longer-Outliers