Lack of investment in the industry could lead to an energy crisis
Led by kingpin Saudi Arabia, oil-producing nations are gaining confidence and delivering a message: the oil era is far from over. Last week, Saudi Petroleum Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman warned that global oil production could drop by a massive 30 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2030. That’s around 30 per cent of the…
Robinhood feels although it’s an extremely young start-up - most people had never heard of it until the Pandemic hit. More experienced traders were likely to use more comprehensive trading platforms with more charting and infrastructural capabilities, whilst many current Robinhood users had never heard of any trading platforms prior to signing up. The app…
Online financial education is changing the game, threatening to impact financial advisers
One-third of Canadian millennials prefer going solo when it comes to managing and investing their money. Online financial education and tools are changing the rules of the game, threatening to affect financial advisers in the same manner emails impacted mail carriers. A recent poll conducted by Finder.com revealed that 33.7 per cent of millennials prefer…
The real threat to cow-based products might be an appetite for choice in a highly regulated market
With the explosion of plant-based milk alternatives flooding the market, can cow milk co-exist? Canada’s dairy industry will struggle to survive the competition unless it reconnects with its consumers. Until now, milk wars have been international. Canada’s dairy market is highly regulated through its contentious supply management system. Quotas and high tariffs are used to…
The differences between angels and VCs are no longer quite so clearly visible as they once were
The start-up is going well and now it’s time to pursue capital. The friends and family networks are running thin. Who are you going to call? Angel groups exist across the country and there are VCs (venture capitalists) you might want to see. The rule of thumb is to call them all: both angels and…
New partnership ensures vaccine makers now have an option to manufacture their products domestically
Vaccine makers, medical researchers and pharmaceutical companies now have a new full-service option to get their products manufactured in Canada, thanks to a partnership announced this week. The U of A’s Alberta Cell Therapy Manufacturing (ACTM) facility has signed a memorandum of understanding with The Ottawa Hospital’s Biotherapeutics Manufacturing Centre (BMC) and BioCanRx, a Canada-wide research network to develop…
Interest rates will rise dramatically to compensate financial institutions with effects lasting for years
It’s not entirely clear whether the Canadian and the global economies are heading for a new inflationary era. It may turn out that inflation is not only elevated from recent negligible levels, but escalates, steadily at first, and then dramatically, as it did in the 1960s until the early 1980s. If it does, the havoc…
Rising prices may be increasing their allure but there are considerable risks
The value of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and others recently hit new record highs, in the thousands of dollars per unit. This escalation has attracted more speculators, further boosting prices over the past several months. Much of this is the result of investors fearing they will miss out on a chance to profit. While…
The decentralization genie is out of the bottle
Underneath all the media brouhaha and institutional focus on bitcoin, a struggle is brewing in the crypto world: which altcoin will pick up the baton? A fierce competition is underway for the podium, with Ethereum having a clear first-mover advantage. Bitcoin, as economists and investors such as Larry Summers and Ray Dalio have come around…
Eden Redman co-founded student group-turned-non-profit to support students exploring new ways for computers to interact with the brain
Everything from brain-controlled prosthetics to games that are responsive to brain activity are within our grasp, according to University of Alberta student Eden Redman. Redman’s work promoting and expanding access to brainwave-sensing technology has earned him the Student Entrepreneur of the Year award at Startup Edmonton’s YEG Startup Community Awards. Announced at an online ceremony in May,…