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They were laughing at his proposal [1], which seems like it would increase inflation in the same way that stimulus checks and rock-bottom interest rates did - b

They were laughing at his proposal [1], which seems like it would increase inflation in the same way that stimulus checks and rock-bottom interest rates did - by giving people cheap/free money. Jagmeet Singh likes to characterize businesses as blood sucking institutions making money hand over fist. But competition in a healthy market makes it so that you can't just increase profit margins, because a competitor will eat your lunch. One big issue in Canada is that there is a lack of competition. Close friends who are entrepreneurs in Canada tell me that starting/operating a business in Canada is really difficult compared to the US (a lot more regulations, a lot less capital, and investors are really conservative). Telecom in Canada is pretty much a cartel - 3 providers, price fixing/geography-exclusion agreements, they inhabit the regulatory boards, ... [1] https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/ndp-wants-to-redistribute-excess-corporate-profits-to-canadians-to-ease-inflation https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/ndp-wants-to-redistri...

rowanajmarshall 4y ago
A great article on this subject: https://palladiummag.com/2019/09/19/how-not-to-build-a-country-canadas-late-soviet-pessimism/ https://palladiummag.com/2019/09/19/how-not-to-build-a-count...
908B64B197 4y ago
> They were laughing at his proposal [1], which seems like it would increase inflation in the same way that stimulus checks and rock-bottom interest rates did - by giving people cheap/free money. Interestingly, that's something fairly common in Indian politics: trying to squeeze out the vote from certain ethnic groups with handouts. It's just that some Indian politicians are a little more direct (It was once explained to me that a race was won after one party declared they would give out flat screen TVs should they win...). > Close friends who are entrepreneurs in Canada tell me that starting/operating a business in Canada is really difficult compared to the US (a lot more regulations, a lot less capital, and investors are really conservative). That's something a Canadian founder echoed to me long ago. He was trying to raise with a friend from Switzerland and basically couldn't get anyone to take him seriously (I think the only offer he got in Canada was for a loan if he could make something like 10K in profits per months?). Even getting a meeting took several months. He was about to shelve the project when he came down to the valley (heading out to Yosemite to go climbing) and tried to schedule a meeting or two with some VCs. To his surprise, he was able to pitch to three different investors in a span of two days. Long story short, he eventually decided to move to the valley and that's where he and his co-founder secured funding.

rowanajmarshall 4y ago

A great article on this subject: https://palladiummag.com/2019/09/19/how-not-to-build-a-country-canadas-late-soviet-pessimism/ https://palladiummag.com/2019/09/19/how-not-to-build-a-count...

908B64B197 4y ago

> They were laughing at his proposal [1], which seems like it would increase inflation in the same way that stimulus checks and rock-bottom interest rates did - by giving people cheap/free money. Interestingly, that's something fairly common in Indian politics: trying to squeeze out the vote from certain ethnic groups with handouts. It's just that some Indian politicians are a little more direct (It was once explained to me that a race was won after one party declared they would give out flat screen TVs should they win...). > Close friends who are entrepreneurs in Canada tell me that starting/operating a business in Canada is really difficult compared to the US (a lot more regulations, a lot less capital, and investors are really conservative). That's something a Canadian founder echoed to me long ago. He was trying to raise with a friend from Switzerland and basically couldn't get anyone to take him seriously (I think the only offer he got in Canada was for a loan if he could make something like 10K in profits per months?). Even getting a meeting took several months. He was about to shelve the project when he came down to the valley (heading out to Yosemite to go climbing) and tried to schedule a meeting or two with some VCs. To his surprise, he was able to pitch to three different investors in a span of two days. Long story short, he eventually decided to move to the valley and that's where he and his co-founder secured funding.