Date: Apr 18, 2019 (article written by Janyce McGregor)

Link: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/nafta-impact-study-1.5104030

Summary: The case for ratifying the revised North American trade agreement got a boost with the release of a new analysis by the U.S. International Trade Commission that predicted economic gains for all three partners if its changes are implemented. U.S. exports of goods and services to Canada are expected to increase by 5.9 per cent annually under the new deal. U.S. imports from Canada are estimated to rise by 4.8 per cent. The ITC’s model suggests the revised trade deal offers both economic growth (a boost to U.S. real GDP worth $68.2 billion) and employment growth (an estimated 176,000 jobs). U.S. trade with the rest of the world is also expected to increase, but trade with NAFTA partners would represent a larger share of total U.S. trade, the ITC projects. U.S. exports of goods and services to Canada are expected to increase by 5.9 per cent annually under the new deal. U.S. imports from Canada are estimated to rise by 4.8 per cent.

Stakeholders & how different people/organizations can be effected

U.S.A economy- (+) The economy growth of USA is going up with the real GDP worth $68.2 billion and an estimated of about 176000 jobs.

Canada’s economy: Because U.S economy is going up so it will affect Canada’s economy in a positive way which means our economy will go up too.

Employment rates: People will get more jobs because of the increase in U.S. imports from Canada.

Citizens: People will get goods and services at lower rates because of the increase in economic growth.

Other countries: Other countries will be affected a little because now U.S will import from Canada and as a result other countries export rate will decrease.

Personal Opinion: I don’t think that this trade deal effects me in any way. First of all, it will boost the job opportunities in America not in Canada. Secondly, I don’t think that this will impact Canada’s economy at larger rates because U.S. is the one who is getting more benefitted from this trade policy.

Question: How this trade policy between U.S.A and Canada will affect Canada’s economic growth?

Date: Apr 17, 2019 (article written by Pete Evans)

Link: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/inflation-rate-march-1.5101360

Summary: The cost of living rose at an annual rate of almost two per cent in March, Statistics Canada says, as increases in the price of food, rent and mortgages were slightly offset by cheaper gasoline. The data agency said Wednesday that Canada’s consumer price index rose from 1.5 per cent in February to 1.9 per cent in March. The 1.9 per cent figure was in line with what economists were expecting. Food was a big reason for the jump in inflation, as the price of fresh vegetables has risen by 15.7 per cent in the past year, while fresh fruit prices are up by almost as much — 8.6 per cent. Overall, food price inflation accelerated to 3.6 per cent in March from 3.2 per cent the previous month. Sylvain Charlebois, a professor of food distribution and policy at Dalhousie University in Halifax, said food prices are always more volatile than some other categories, but recent jumps are “excessive” even by their own high standards. Part of the reason why the country is so vulnerable to food inflation is because most of what Canadians eat comes from outside the country.

Stakeholders & how different people/organizations can be effected

Government- (-) The Government will not be able to collect more tax because of the inflation as more and more people are buying less. As a result, Canada will need to import more to decrease the rates and meet the demand of resources.

Lower and Middle class People- (-) Because of the inflation, people are paying more. Also, lower class people are not able to fulfill their needs.

Retailers- (-) Because people are buying less, retailers are not able to sell their products and as a result, they are facing loss.

Other countries- (+) To decrease the inflation rates, the government has to import more vegetables from other countries which will increase the export revenues of other countries.

Economy- (-) GDP rates will decrease because of the inflation which will effect Canada’s economic growth.

Unemployment- (-) Because of the inflation people are buying less and as a result nobody will hire new people. So, unemployment rates will go up.

Farmers- (+) Farmers who grow vegetables are getting benefitted because the prices are high and they are making more profits.

Personal opinion: I believe this will effect GDP rates of Canada for sure. Also, Canada should grow more fruits and vegetables so that they don’t have to import more from other countries. I think this will not effect me because I am not paying for the groceries right now. But in future it will effect me if it will continue to start rising.

Question: If you have to solve this problem, what can you do to decrease the inflation rates?

1. Cameron Muir is the chief economist of BCER.
2. $125 billion (approximately) was the value of price decline in total sales.
3. Consumer demand has been decreased because of the high prices and also people are not getting mortgages. The ratio of sales to active residential listings declined from 25.4 per cent to 12 per cent over the same period. $665,590 was lost.
4. When prices are high and as a result there is decline in sales.
5. Murtaza Haider and Stephen Moranis were interviewed. They work for Real Estate Association.
6. Lift the rent controls because when rent control is relaxed there is more supply. Also, by encouraging more construction.

Date: March 14,2019 (article written by Thomson Reuters)

Link: https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/facebook-instagram-outage-cause-1.5056807

Summary: Facebook Inc. said that it had restored service to its main app and Instagram, after the world’s largest social network suffered a major outage that frustrated users across the globe for about 24 hours. It also said it was considering whether to refund advertisers for lost exposure due to the problems, which internet outage trackers showed affected users in Europe, Japan, and North and South America. “Yesterday, a server configuration issue made it difficult for people to access our apps and services. We are 100 per cent back up and running and apologize for any inconvenience,” a Facebook spokesperson said. Facebook makes tens of millions of dollars in advertising revenue every day.

Stakeholders: & how different people/organizations can be effected

Advertisers- (-) Advertisers faced a huge loss because of the major outage. They couldn’t advertise their product because of the outage and also they lost money which they had spend on the advertisement.

Facebook- (-) Facebook had to refund advertisers for lost exposure. Also, so many people got frustrated across the globe for about 24 hours which had a negative impact on facebook.

Users- (-) Users got frustrated because they couldn’t use the service for 24 hours. A server configuration issue made it difficult for people to access our apps and services.

Other Apps- (+) Other apps like Instagram, snapchat etc. got benefitted from this outage because people used their services more. Also, more advertisers will go to other apps for their advertisements.

Shares- (-) Shares of Facebook dropped by 2%.

Personal Opinion: I don’t think that it should be such a big issue for Facebook because it is worldwide and people who are using Facebook, they will continue to use it. It could’ve affected Facebook for 24 hours but now everything’s fine. So many people complained about it on Twitter but I don’t think that they stopped using Facebook. Definitely, other apps like twitter, snapchat and Instagram benefitted from this outage.

Question: Do you think that this major outage affected Facebook? If yes, then, in what way? Explain.

Date: March 13, 2019 (article written by Rajeshni Naidu-Ghelani)

Link: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/air-canada-westjet-boeing-1.5054648

Summary: Shares of Air Canada fell by nearly 2% after the Canadian announcement, while WestJet was down 1.6%. Shares of most North American airlines fell after the U.S. and Canada announced they were grounding all Boeing 737 Max 8 planes, and banning the aircraft from its airspace. “We are working to rebook impacted customers as soon as possible, but given the magnitude of our 737 MAX operations, which on average carry nine to twelve thousand customers per day, customers can expect delays in rebooking and in reaching Air Canada call centres,” the airline said in a statement. Shares of the two airlines have fallen more than three per cent this week after the crash of the Ethiopian Airlines plane that killed all 157 people on board, including 18 Canadians.

Stakeholders: & how different people/organizations can be effected

Consumers- (-) Consumers are facing lots of problems because of the aeroplanes. There flights are getting delayed and so many consumers loss their lives.

Boeing- (-) Company is facing a huge loss because countries like China, USA and Canada are banning their aircrafts.

Shares- (-) Shares are going down. Companies like Air Canada and West Jet’s share fell down.

Competitors- (+) Their competitors like Airbus, United Technologies etc. will get benefit of it because more companies will be buying their aircrafts.

Personal Opinion: In my opinion, USA and Canada did a right thing by grounding all Boeing 737 Max 8 planes. Even though the companies are facing loss but the lives of people are safe. Money is not important all the time. If they find any default in the plane probably then company will have to face a huge loss which lead the decrease in employment rates and then consumer spending and GDP and so on and so forth.

Questions: Do you think if they find any default in a plane, should the company be just shut down or given a chance to improve it?

If they are given a chance to improve, will you buy a ticket of a plane that is made by Boeing?

1. If they offer more content than Netflix or any other streaming services and on cheaper prices then as a consumer I would prefer Apple.
2. There is always a competition in the market and I think its the right move for Apple to break into a new brand because of its popularity. Consumers always wants more choices and it will benefit Apple.
3. Yes, I use Netflix as a streaming service because of its content and price.
4. On My Block, 13 Reasons Why and Dynasty.

1. Capitalism economic system leads to a greater disparity or inequality of wealth.
2. They want to lift the vast majority of people up and improve their standards of living.
3. Richard Branson, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.
4. I am agree with Richard Branson. He thinks that wealthy people should be paid more taxes because not everyone’s income is same; Majority of people belongs to middle class, so they should be paid less taxes as they afford less than wealthy people. Also, he is in the favor of equality of wealth.
5. I don’t think that this would ever happen because people always say things about the welfare of society but they never implement on it.
6. I believe there is better economic system out there in Canada because it’s mixed economy and everyone has equal access to most of the things like medical services. But in capitalism economy only wealthy people get advantage and they makes more profit which leads to inequality of wealth.

Consumer spending on track for worst year in decade, says National Bank

Date: Feb 05, 2019 ( article written by Rajeshni Naidu-Ghelani)

Link: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/consumer-spending-consumption-canada-1.5006343

Summary: Economics are expecting that consumer spending will fall to the lowest since 2009 global financial crisis. Consumption growth is the using up of goods and services by consumer purchasing or in the production of other goods. It will hit 1.3 per cent in 2019, which would be the lowest since 2009 when it fell to 0.2 per cent. According to National Bank, the main reason of this is housing prices, people have a pressure from higher interest rates that will result in less consumer spending. According to retail sales data for November from Statistics Canada, last month consumption growth fell more than expected, by 0.9 per cent. Higher interest rates are also hurting the ability of households to spend. The Bank of Canada has raised rates five times since mid-2017. Overall, National Bank predicts real consumption grew by 2.2 per cent last year, but it will slow to 1.3 per cent this year, and slow further to 1.2 per cent in 2020.

Stakeholders: & how different people/organizations can be effected:  

Economy: (-) will decrease because consumption has a huge impact on economy. If, people will spend less then other people’s income will fall too.

Businesses: (-) Businesses can open up and offer all kinds of great products, but if we don’t purchase or consume their products, they won’t stay in business for very long!

Government: (-) The government will not be able to collect tax money and therefore, they will not be able to spend more money on public goods and services.

Inflation: (-) Prices of goods and services will decrease because of less consumer spending.

Unemployment rates and salaries: (-) If, businesses will shutdown, they will not be able to give salaries and they will fire their employees.

Borrowing: (-) will decrease because people will not be able to spend more on goods and services and therefore, borrowing will decrease.

Personal Opinion: As consumers, we buy so many goods and services, but if we consume less goods and services, then someone else’s income will drop which will effect our GDP growth, inflation rates, unemployment rates, borrowing, interest rates, so on and so forth. To conclude this sentences, it means that it will effect the whole business cycle. All the things are connected to each other. If GDP falls because of consumer spending, then there will be a recession. And if this will happen Canada’s economy will be at recession stage.

Questions: When I was writing that how different organizations will be effected, I couldn’t find anything/anyone who will be benefitted if consumer spending will fall.

Do you think if anyone can have a benefit from this?

1. We used small risk small reward strategy because we lost the first round, and didn’t want to take risk in the second one and lose more money.
2. Roopam and Navleen made the planes because Harjot didn’t know how to make planes.
3. The person who was making planes was throwing them.
4. Yes we did switch roles, because the first time Roopam made the plane but failed so the second time Navleen tried it.
5. No because Roopam was confident that she knew how to make paper planes.
6. In the last round, we donated our leftover paper to other companies as we quit in the fourth round and they needed the resource.
7. Yes. We did see how other groups were making their planes but we didn’t use their strategy. We looked at what they were doing to see where we went wrong.
8. No because we already lost all our money.
9. Since we lost most of our money after the second round, we offered a business proposal to the consumer (Mr. Uppal) to exchange paper for money. So basically we exchanged a resource, that we had plenty of, with another resource (that we had shortage of).
10. We had $3 in the end and then we quit.
11. We were 3 people and had $3, so each person got a dollar, to keep things fair.
12. The game was fair enough. We couldn’t think of anything to improve in the rules.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton