Monthly Archives: October 2012

Polar Express

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The troubles of transporting food to Canada’s North.

The transportation and logistics of fresh produce is always a tricky business. This difficulty is amplified in many developing nations, where governments and organizations struggle to distribute reasonably priced, quality crops to consumers without the proper infrastructure for their delivery. Surprisingly, similar problems exist right here, in Canada.

A typical sight at a grocery store in Nunavut ($11.35) http://www.facebookstories.com/stories/1579/iqaluit-nunavut-a-northern-diet

With no railway or highways serving much of the territories, grocery chains are forced to rely on planes to deliver goods, daily. On account of this, prices are driven to ridiculous ranges, a head of cabbage for $28 or a four-litre jug of milk for $8.

These figures mean that residents of Canada’s North are finding it increasingly difficult to put food on their tables. 56% of Inuit families face a degree of food insecurity.

Most grocery has to be flown in to Nunavut daily. http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/98789_first_air_expands_atr_service_into_kivalliq/

Although the government already provides food subsidies for the people of these territories through Nutrition North Canada, this is clearly not enough to ensure affordable prices. To make transportation faster and cheaper, it is imperative the government invest in better infrastructure in the area, increase subsidies, and encourage greater competition. Through these methods, the government can secure the sustainability of Northern life, thus preserving both Inuit culture and Canada’s threatened sovereignty in the region.

Spark: Professor Mahesh Nagarajan‘s lecture on Transportation and Logistics, and Who, What, Why: Why does a cabbage cost $28 in Canada?

Thank you Vinotha for your thoughtful response!

France’s Pigeons

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Business protests take to the web.

During last year’s Arab Spring, ordinary citizens ousted dictators with the help of social media. The powerful effects of social networking sites are now being felt in the business world, as young french entrepreneurs took to Facebook in protest of a new tax increase on the rich.

The logo of “Les Pigeons” https://www.facebook.com/lespigeonsentrepreneurs

Led by an I.T. investor, the group calls themselves Les Pigeons. It demanded via the web that the French government reconsider a tax hike on start-up capital. The group argues that this tax will deter entrepreneurship. With about 70,000 likes, it pushed the government to quickly U-turn, compromise on this policy and reassess others.

Street protests are common in France, but they tend to have little effect. I found it surprising that this method was so successful; it will definitely trigger a shift in the way businesses protest regulation not only in France but also around the globe.

If Hollande’s party continues to bow down to small protests, they may face future difficulty http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2012/may/08/francois-hollande-startups

Although I think it was bad policy to begin with, the government made a mistake by backing down. The socialist party was elected on a strong mandate to increase taxes on the rich. Backtracking over 70,000 Facebook likes encourages civil dissidence, and appears weak and surrendering; a stereotype France is already struggling to quell.

Spark: Rolling Back a Tax Increase via Facebook

 

Thank you Joshua and Jeff for your thoughtful responses!

Fight of the Century

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The economy versus the earth. 

While the environmental movement is sweeping the globe, Canada seems to be heading in the opposite direction. Jessica Barry’s post “Canadian Government Speeds Up the Industrial Process” brought to my attention the growing favorability of business over the environment in Canada.

Sadly, I can’t say the nature of Jessica’s blog was very surprising. The suspension of environmental reviews for 3,000 projects comes after a long line of similar decisions.

The Albertan oil sands have become the face of the fight between business and the environment http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/03/canadian-oil-sands/kunzig-text

I find the misnomer that long-term economic growth will come at the expense of the environment pretty baffling. Reliance on natural resources to fuel an economy will lead to declines in other sectors such as manufacturing and services; industries that will support the economy long after resources run dry. Milking the environment will also lead to sharp drops in Canada’s tourism industry which accounts for about the same percentage of our GDP as agriculture, fishing, and forestry combined.

A Canadian postage stamp  depicting a wind farm. http://www.wind-works.org/photos/stp_Canada2005.html

Finally, investing in the development of environmentally friendly technology and energy will decrease our dependency on fluctuating, unstable resource prices in the long run.

Canada is running out of excuses to put commerce before the environment, and fast running out of time to pull away from the troubles that this will inevitably cause.

Spark: Jessica Barry’s Post and Harper government cancels 3,000 environmental reviews on pipelines and other projects

 

Funny Business

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“SINCE we have not more power of knowing the future than any other men, we have made many mistakes (who has not during the past five years?), but our mistakes have been errors of judgment and not of principle.” So reflected J.P. Morgan junior in 1933, in the middle of a financial crisis. Today’s bankers can draw no such comfort from their behaviour. –The Economist Magazine, 2012

HSBC Executives take an oath before testifying in a U.S. Senate hearing
http://www.economist.com/node/21559349

It was a cruel summer for business ethics. HSBC was found banking drug lords and terrorists, and traders in London casually rigged interbank borrowing rates, to name just a few cringe-worthy missteps in the past months.

This comes at the tail end of a financial crisis that was wrought with examples of corruption, unethical management practices and insider trading. These practices came at the expense of jobs, and at times honest people.

When there’s large sums of money involved, some find it harder to differentiate between right and wrong. Unfortunately, this has badly hurt society’s perception of the profession and even those studying it.

The Occupy movement demonstrated the discontent with Commerce
http://abcnews.go.com/US/occupy-wall-street-anniversary-protests-dwarfed-police-presence/story?id=17249773#.UHGnSBgYL-k

I think this is why David Silver’s insight into business ethics struck a real chord with me. How business is done needs to be rethought to ensure ethics are considered in decision-making, but where should this pressure come from?

Although people must make principled decisions without pressure, it’s unrealistic to rely solely on this. Governments should limit possibilities for wrongdoing, executives need to implement checks to cut temptation, and b-schools must teach business applications of common values.

Even with changes, making commerce fair and rebuilding its battered image will take lots of good old-fashioned personal integrity.

Spark: The Rotten Heart of Finance and Professor David Silver‘s lecture on business ethics.

Thank you Emily for your thoughtful response!