Stuff for Doods » Economy

Canada is #4 Most Developed Country in the World

the dood — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 18:50:21 +0000

Just stumbled onto this HDI (Human Development Index) thing, which places Canada in the #4 slot in the list of most developed countries in the world behind Norway, Australia and Iceland. I wasn’t expecting us to be so high up there, but good on us!!!

Link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Development_Index

Black Friday, Cyber Monday – Results Mixed

the dood — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:32:44 +0000

As we look back at this recession, we (at least I) hope to see encouraging Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales – indicators that we are passed the recession and are on a solid road to recovery.

Online sales reports have been in, and we are seeing an 11% rise in sales from last year in online sales on Black Friday, but brick and mortar sales reports from Time Magazine are showing a decline by 8% in sales per person, even though more people showed up looking for deals. However, actual sales volume did increase by approximately 1%.

This does enforce the growing trend that online spending will continue to increase, especially where budget-concious shoppers are concerned. The online discounts continue to roll in as Cyber Monday, the busiest shopping day in online sales, goes on.

Central 1 Credit Union Declare’s BC’s Recession Over

the dood — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:33:46 +0000

So, according to these guys, our recession is over. What does everyone else think?

Many people claim “Oh, my friend just lost her job, it can’t be over”, or other similarly microcosmic statements that fail to see the BC economy as a whole. Additionally, employment is one of the slowest factors to recover, oftentimes never recovering fully as businesses learn to cope, outsource and streamline in tight times.

Vancouver Sun Article

Microsoft and Yahoo to take on Google

the dood — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:36:17 +0000

Google’s dominating 65% of the search market share is nothing to shake a stick at, and Microsoft and Yahoo have finally ironed out a deal today to work together in tackling the giant that is Google. Combined they have a 28% search market share, which could be easily bolstered and improved with Microsofts new search Technology in Bing, since Yahoo has great marketing and exposure, much more than Microsoft as far as search is concerned.

The deal has a 10-year term, and relates only to the search engine side of the companies and will not involve any other types of properties owned by the two Internet and Technology Giants.

Canada Spared in the Recession?

the dood — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:28:02 +0000

According to the IMF (International Monetary Fund), Canada will be not experience the worst of the global recession because of our “strong fiscal package”. The $400 billion dollar stimulus package is supported by the IMF. This is good, right?

In my experience dealing with Canadians and Canadian companies as of late, I notice an slightly less desperate need to sell and save than with our brothers to the south. This supports the IMF views as far as my small sampling of experience is concerned.

However, we’re going to be in for some rougher times still.

See more about Canada’s action plan here on the new site:
http://actionplan.gc.ca/