We have seen gasoline prices plummet to as low as USD$1.29/gallon in the United States and CDN$0.58/liter in Canada. We knew that: the United States became the worlds largest producer of oil a few years ago thanks largely to the fracking revolution, and Russia and Saudi Arabia were quickly expanding production but we didn’t really have a grasp on scale. How big is the global oil market and where major oil producing countries like Canada, Iraq, Mexico and Venezuela lie…
The new NAFTA (aka North American Free Trade Agreement or United States Mexico Canada Agreement) has an interesting minimum wage requirement that is not well understood. Here are the key facts: USD $16/hour wage minimum is required on 40% of the components in cars and 45% of the components on trucks The $16/hour is required to be paid by the manufacturer to its EMPLOYEES and not the contracted suppliers to companies like GM, Chrysler and Ford $1.60 of that $16/hour…
This topic is a departure from our usual focus on politics, tech and China but we thought it made an excellent point in a funny way you would like. As a… lets go with ‘gruff’ person myself, I sadly see tiny parts of Coleman Sweeney in me (pun intended!) and I have signed up for organ donation too. Be an asshole and sign up! In most countries you just have to fill our an organ donor card or sign the…
Here are the numbers supporting what you likely already knew. George W Bush was not well liked or respected in the international community, largely because he polarized world leaders into “…those who are with (the US), or with the terrorists” Obama softened the US stance on international issues. He had been called the Consoler In Chief. Trump’s lack of foreign policy planning and his penchant for grandstanding has lead him to take hard line on almost everything. Thus far, he…
The cover of this weeks “The Atlantic” prompts a well logic’d article by David Frum (son of Barbara Frum and former speech writer for George W Bush), in which he explains two key points: the history and intent of refugee / asylum laws voters around the globe will select near fascists as a way to protect their borders As Mr. Frum correctly points out, the number of refugees (largely from Central America countries like Nicaragua) to the United States has…
It is understandable that people often prefer to associate with people of their own groups. It is just easier to converse, live with and do business with people that share a similar background. Personally, I find that boring, but understandable. The Great Browning is the notion that over the next few hundred years the concepts of White, Black, Asian, … will all be relegated to the history books as nearly everyone’s skin will be some light shade of brown. The…
It turns out that US Presidents have not been shy about declaring so called “National Emergencies” through history and there are things you should know. Here are the quick facts about National Emergencies: Nothing can stop US President from declaring a National Emergency but acting on that declaration is another matter . As of January 2019 the US lives under 31 National Emergency declarations, the oldest is from Jimmy Carter in 1979 . The right to declare a National Emergency…
Donald Trump and friends have been banging on this border wall idea for years and their supporters are energized by it. Our editorial staff have spent days thinking about how Trump supporters could be so insistent that a border wall is needed when it so obviously is not (let’s not argue the pro’s and con’s here, just follow the big picture logic below)… and we think we came up with the answer. In short, Trump / Wall supporters don’t know…
When we watch the TV or read the newspaper we often see something like “OIL IS UP TODAY” but we really don’t know what that means because there are so many different types of crude oil, each with its own price. Below we briefly explore the 6 oil products that are common to Canadians and Americans and at the bottom of this article we show 60 crude oil types and their prices from around the globe. You can see that…
This short clip from the author of “Prius or Pickup?” Jonathan Weiler, explains that political parties on the left and the right have stopped defining themselves by the size of government and instead focused in emotional responses to identity politics. The discussion uses the US system of Democrat vs Republican but it applies to nearly all parties globally. Political parties now energize there voters by vilifying the other side based on their identity: immigrant vs multi-generation citizen rural vs urban…
There is much hype on the so-called “non-market” clause in the USMCA (aka. NAFTA 2.0): ‘Astonishing’ clause in new deal suggests Trump wants leverage over Canada-China trade talks: experts SOURCE Chinese embassy in Canada condemns ‘US veto’ clause in North America trade deal SOURCE Beijing attacks USMCA clause seen as blocking efforts to expand trade with Canada, Mexico SOURCE Alarm bells ring over non-market economy clause SOURCE and it many political opponents wrote things like: Conservative MP Michael Chong accused…
In an era of apparently undeniable Russian state sponsored interference in American and UK Elections social media companies like Facebook, Twitter & Google have been called to account for their part in the ‘attacks’. This begs the question, how much responsibility do internet and social media companies really have for blocking misinformation by primarily foreign entities? In this video Bloomberg explores Keith Rabois’, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist and PayPal Vice President, opinion that social media is just another form…
In yet another unintended consequence of US President Donald Trump’s (and his minions) lack of control, his nasty comments towards Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after the G7 summit in Quebec resulted in a major political boost for both Trudeau and Canada. “There’s a special place in Hell for any foreign leader that engages in bad faith diplomacy with President Donald J. Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the way out the door,” Peter Navaro on…
Multinational trade negotiations are often accused being a closed door mess with a never ending series of mistakes, but Canadian negotiating strategies on NAFTA have been very successful. Successful is a subjective word and this site aims to keep to the facts and avoid too much opinion, so let’s define success. In the context NAFTA negotiations, success is defined as a trade agreement that is as favorable to your country as possible, with least amount of drama. Canada, so far,…
Do you want to understand Global Warming without the political hype? Dr. David Maenz has written and important book for 2018 explaining the science of global warming, it’s impacts and viable solutions. The Price of Carbon is an easy read. You don’t have to be a climate scientist to understand his clear explanations and simple charts. The book includes a brief history of the earth, where we are today, future climate scenarios and how to fix the problems. It also…
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