Price controls undermine investment, remove incentive for innovation and backfire for consumers
There’s a pervasive belief in Canada that wireless phone service prices are a ripoff. To suggest otherwise is heresy. Countless commentaries provide fodder for this belief, and every few years a politician takes on the purported problem. In the mid-2010s, for example, Industry Minister James Moore supported the entry of Verizon, although the U.S.-based prospective…
U of A experts offer tips on how to handle your money during the pandemic – including decontaminating bills and coins
Many businesses worried about COVID-19 contamination are touchy about taking cash, but the greater risk may be in overusing our plastic. Shoppers using credit or debit cards for every purchase instead of cash and coins will have to watch their spending habits, said Mike Maier, a financial expert with the Alberta School of Business at the University…
Regardless of your age, abilities or lifestyle, you can benefit from a low-cardio seated elliptical workout
It’s always smart to inject a little more physical activity into our lives, regardless of where we are on our fitness journey. But sometimes we lack the time or energy for that much-needed workout. The good news is the solution, Cubii Jr., can sit right under your feet. Cubii Jr. is a compact elliptical trainer…
It has a compact design and works super-fast, plus it has adapters for use in 200 countries so is great for travel
A one-size-fits-all travel-sized multi-port charger for the majority of our gadgets may seem impossible. But Zendure seems to think its new Passport II Pro will do the trick. So do their followers. In fact, the company’s recent Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign was fully funded in just two hours. Sixty-one watts of power The new-generation Zendure Passport…
Study of fashion blogger’s account of wearing the same dress every day for a year shows how much we depend on possessions
When you exclaim “I love that!” about a favourite possession, do you really mean it? A University of Alberta study based on a fashion blog is asking people to think more deeply about what they own – and whether they really need to buy more. A year of reflections in Frock Around the Clock, a blog about…
An accounting expert offers a wealth of advice – starting with not letting your net worth define your self-worth
People struggling to pay their debts in a crippled COVID-19 economy can’t avoid tough choices but shouldn’t let it crush them, says a University of Alberta financial expert. Feelings of fear, frustration or shame can overwhelm the clear-headed thinking needed to tackle tough times, but try not to internalize it, advised Mike Maier, an accounting…
If you find yourself cursing your cellular provider for the lack of cell signal, remember that it just might be the fault of your car or building’s construction materials or even that leafy tree to your right
Picture this: You’re driving home from work, just about to finish up a phone meeting through your car’s Bluetooth, when suddenly your call drops – you’re once again in that dreaded dead spot in the middle of the city where important conversations go to die. The default culprit you’re most likely to blame in this…
Consumer spending is important to a healthy economy, but each of us needs to decide where we draw the line between our wants and our needs
I felt guilty tossing mixed household and construction materials into container bins at the landfill. We did our very best to reuse and recycle, but we still had a couple of truckloads of stuff to discard. I hadn’t been to the landfill for years, maybe decades, and I was shocked at the change in the…
Tim Hortons desperately needs to make its Roll Up The Rim campaign work. But the chain may have again missed the mark
After a disastrous campaign last year, Tim Hortons finally got the message and opted to change its 35-year-old Roll Up The Rim campaign. But its new approach is not that simple. The iconic contest is now much shorter and incredibly more complicated. Given its last quarter financial results showed same-store-sales dropping by more than four…
The dairy industry is slowly being trampled by a wave of consumers who see it as one of many options, for a variety of reasons
There’s been a lot of talk recently about meat alternatives but dairy alternatives are also becoming more popular. And when it comes to dairy in Canada, given our quotas and high tariffs, the stakes are significantly higher. Dairy alternatives can be seen everywhere from grocery stores to coffee shops. These products are no longer confined…
There’s a pervasive belief in Canada that wireless phone service prices are a ripoff. To suggest otherwise is heresy. Countless commentaries provide fodder for this belief, and every few years a politician takes on the purported problem. In the mid-2010s, for example, Industry Minister James Moore supported the entry of Verizon, although the U.S.-based prospective…
