Amidst the plethora of news that we’ve been hearing from all industries about the economy heading towards worse times and as we hear stories of worsening conditions close to home (i.e. Nortel), I can’t help but say, let the startups begin.

There is a lot of talent in Ottawa and other cities around the world that currently work at larger corporations with comfortable, and in some cases, inflated salaries. It is exactly these conditions that make it almost impossible for them to attempt to either join a startup or begin one themselves. Times are changing and we may see more and more of this pool of talented and intelligent people move on to other things and potentially the startup scene.

We’ve seen this in the past and we have a number of local success stories coming from guys who voluntarily/involuntarily left their jobs at these large corporations and attained a level of success that they wouldn’t have achieved by staying at their previous positions. Companies like Nakina Systems, Nimcat, Fitel-Photomatrix, ObjecTime, and many many more fall under this category. Needless to say, the Economic Downturn can be looked at as an opportunity or a menace depending on how you look at it

As the advertisement above shows, we may be seeing the iPhone a lot sooner than I had originally assumed. If you’ve had a chance to play with the iPhone, you’ll have realized what an amazing toy it is. If you think about it, you probably payed $200+ for you iPod and now you can get an iPod, Camera, and Phone all in one. Good deal, yes. The user interface is also genius.

However, I dislike the fact that even though the Canadian Currency is worth more than the American Dollar, that the price of this phone is still a lot higher in Canada. The phone is about $120 USD more expensive in Canada. Not only that, data charges are a lot higher in Canada so you can’t really use the phone to its fullest. Should Canadians be angry, yes.

Reference: http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/28/iphone-going-to-be-expensive-in-canada-eh/

Aydin.

Posted By: Aydin Mirzaee

[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-1552555273778978142]Watch the video above. Its the movie “Pirates of Silicon Valley.” Its an amazing movie that will give you some insights into the beginning of the personal computer (pc) as we know it…

Reference: http://www.macobserver.com/article/2007/10/23.12.shtml

Aydin.

Posted By: Aydin Mirzaee

What does this mean for the US/Canadian economy?

Well, at the end of the day, the answer is complicated. Depending on who you talk to and what school of thought you believe in, answers can vary. However, I believe that parity will hurt the Canadian Economy for a couple of reasons:

1) Canada’s Goods are now Expensive:

The US is Canada’s biggest trade partner. Now that both dollars are equivalent in value, Canadian goods aren’t as cheap as they used to be for Americans. The US buys more from Canada than any other country does. Now that Canadian goods are more expensive, US buying patterns may change to the dismay of Canadians.

2) Canadian Labor is now Expensive:

What about all the American factories that currently exist in Canada? Now that Canadian Labor is more expensive, it may not be as logical for the factories to keep their doors open in Canada.

3) American Goods are now Cheaper:

You mean I can cross the border and buy an IPhone for $400 CAD? Sign me up Now that Canadians have more purchase power in the US, cross border shopping will become even more attractive to them.

4) Vacation in Canada is now Expensive:

Americans used to love coming to Canada for vacation as they could get the same quality vacation for a 30% discount. Now that the discount is not there, the incentive for traveling to Canada is also gone.

Ok, so that was one way to look at it…

What about Supply and Demand?

Well, according to classical supply and demand theory, there was more demand for the Canadian Dollar in comparison to the US Dollar in the last little while and that is why the price of the Canadian Dollar has increased. This basically means that the Canadian Dollar is strong and interest in Canadian products is plenty. In order to buy Canadian products/services, one must use the Canadian Dollar. Hence, the more Canada exports in comparison to its imports, the more the demand for its currency should rise. So, it could also be argued that the Canadian Economy is in good shape and that is why the value of the Loonie has gone up… But, to be honest, I think that traditional economics forgets about its adversary: politics. Yes, there is a lot more involved than I think the public will ever come to know about.

Any thoughts?

Aydin.

Posted By: Aydin Mirzaee

Here is part I:

[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-1583154561904832383&q]

Here is part II:

[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-529716659023952808]

Enjoy!

Aydin.

Posted By: Aydin Mirzaee