Prices in 2015 are expected to outpace inflation for the second straight year resulting in a possible increase in food prices of 2.4 per cent. Meat, seafood and vegetables are expected to lead the increase with gains of 3 to 5 per cent. Dairy and eggs and grains will rise by one per cent. Restaurant foods will rise by as much as 3 per cent. Weather and the drought in California will be important factors. Canada, mainly Ontario and BC, buy about C$5-billion a year from California, including tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber and fruit.
GOLD
Over 78 per cent of Swiss voters overwhelmingly rejected an initiative that would have forced the country’s central bank to hold one-fifth of its assets in gold, a move that would have eroded its ability to conduct monetary policy. For the past three years, the bank has capped the Swiss franc at 1.2 per euro by purchasing huge amounts of the common currency, a policy designed to protect Swiss exports. The initiative, if passed, would have forced the central bank to buy gold every time it intervened in the currency market.
WATCHES
Sony has developed a watch made from electronic paper as part of an initiative to experiment with the use of the material for fashion products. The watch has a minimalist, monochrome design but falls short of the features offered by smartwatches. However, the battery of the e-paper watch could last longer with an estimated 60 days of use. The watch face and straps have an e-paper display, comparable to the technology used in e-book readers such as Amazon’s Kindle. The watch can alternate between several different styles of watch face and strap design.
MOVIES
Proposed plans to cap the number of foreign films shown in Russian cinemas by 50 per cent have been shelved by the country’s parliament. The bill was submitted earlier last year when relations between Russia and the West began to sour. Out of the top 20 grossing films at the nation’s box office last year, only two films were made in Russia, Foreign films are currently capped in China where the government introduced a strict quota of just 34 foreign films to be screened each year. A previous bill in 2013 which aimed to cap foreign films in Russia at 20 per cent was also unsuccessful.
PATENTS
Patents are a key measure of a country’s ability to turn research into viable products, and Canada is slipping. Per capita patent filing in Canada have been on a steady decline since 2000 according to a study of more than one million applications to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. The overall number of patent applications peaked at more than 41,000 in 2007, but had fallen to 39,000 in 2012. Ontario and Alberta are the top per capita patent performers and among industry sectors, technology, construction and utilities are the strong patent performers.
SELFIE
In South Korea, selling a “selfie-stick”, which is considered a telecommunications device that lets people photograph themselves, could mean a fine of up to US$35,000 if the gadget is unregistered. The stick may interfere with other devices using the same radio frequencies.
DOMAINS
Police forces across Europe have seized 292 web domains that were being used to sell counterfeit goods. The sites were selling luxury goods as well as sportswear, electronics, pharmaceuticals and pirated goods like movies and music. Visitors trying to reach the sites will now be shown a page educating them on copyright crime. Europol say the total number of domains seized in this way is now 1,829 since the initiative was launched in November 2012.
SECURITY
According to a new study, many Canadian companies are unprepared to deal with cyber-security attacks against new and expanding computer technology such as cloud-based computing. Only 40 per cent of about 500 firms surveyed had security strategies that take into account new technology. The smallest companies were the least prepared with less than ten per cent of businesses reporting any preparation for threats and just 35 per cent of firms with ten to 99 employees having a strategy in place.
TRADE
Australia has signed a free-trade deal with China, its biggest trading partner. The agreement cuts tariffs for most Australian agricultural imports, including wine but excluding rice and sugar, into China and eases the rules for Chinese investment in Australia. The deal is part of the Australian government’s effort to make the economy less reliant on commodities. This deal, when it goes into effect by the end of the year, will immediately give Australia a competitive edge over Canada.
SLIMMING
The Federal Trade Commission has approved two orders setting charges that two companies misled consumers regarding the ability of their caffeine-infused shapewear undergarments to reshape the wearer’s body and reduce cellulite. The companies are banned from claiming that any garment that contains any drug or cosmetic causes substantial weight or fat loss unless they can be substantiated by competent and reliable scientific evidence. The companies are also required to pay over US$1.5-million in refunds to consumers.
CORRUPTION
Anti-corruption investigators in China have confirmed the reported seizure of the equivalent of US$33-million in cash in an officials home, the largest such haul to date. Four out of 16 counting machines broke while counting the notes. China sentenced more than 13,000 officials found guilty of corruption in the first nine months of 2014.
ADVICE
British planning experts are heading to China to advise on building cities that do not wreck the environment. They will address mayors on the need to avoid Los Angeles-style sprawl by building dense cities with low carbon buildings and good public transport. Their visit follows a report warning that the road-based US model could make climate change impossible to contain. In China, many institutions are taking the climate more seriously than before. Two billion extra people are expected in Chinese cities in the coming decades.
COMEDY
A comedy club in Barcelona is experimenting with charging users per laugh, using facial-recognition technology to track how much they enjoyed the show. Each laugh is charged at 0.30 euros with a cap of 24 euros. Takings are up so far.
WIRELESS
There are estimated to be 47-million Wi-Fi hotspots around the world. By 2018 that number is expected to soar to 340-million. Mobile-network operators are increasingly reliant on these hotspots as a cheap way to reduce pressure on their cellular-data networks. Many people when close to a public hot spot switch off their mobile phone’s 3G/4G data network and join the internet courtesy of free Wi-Fi and download lots of data thus avoiding exceeding their monthly charges. Research shows that 42 per cent of mobile-phone traffic and 90 per cent of tablet traffic travels by Wi-Fi instead of the carriers’ own cellular networks.
FOOD
It is estimated that sales at Canadian farmers’ markets are over C$1-billion each year with a total economic impact of $3-billion. 98 per cent of Canadian farms are family owned and operated and their products are exported to over 190 countries. The food and beverage manufacturing industry contributes over $26-billion to Canada’s GDP. Canada’s annual chicken production is over 1-billion kilos, about 638-million birds.
CARS
The car-customization business in America is estimated to be worth around US$33-billion and is increasing by 4 per cent each year. Carmakers are hoping to capitalize by offering a range of variants on their basic models that will boost their brands and their profits.
TRENDS
More than 1.2-million vinyl records were sold in the UK last year. the first time that figure has been achieved since 1996. The figure marks a largely unexpected resurgence in an industry now considered to be dominated by digital. The difference between vinyl and other formats is that it’s viewed as an art form with the audio quality, the sleeve notes and the cover art. Only five years ago the vinyl business was worth around US$6-million annually, now it is worth about $40-million.
TIME
Last fall, Russia turned back its clocks for the last time and permanently adopted winter hours. It also increased its time zones from 9 to 11, from the Pacific to the borders of the European Union. For the last three years, Russia experimented with keeping permanent summer time, but it proved to be highly unpopular with many Russians.
RAIL
A recent report on railway customers states that freight services on North American railways have deteriorated significantly in the past year. More than three-quarters of shippers surveyed labeled service as fair or poor, compared with 32 per cent who gave the railways such a grade a year earlier. Analysts have attributed the widespread dissatisfaction to the impact of congestion and severe weather on deliveries the previous winter. Canadian National Railways received the most positive ratings of the six large railways in Canada and the US.
CHOCOLATE
A shortage of chocolate may soon be upon us according to experts. The planet is running out of the confection. In 2013, the world consumed about 70,000 metric tons more cocoa than it produced. The world’s biggest manufacturers of chocolate goods are warning that by 2020, the consumption-over-production number could increase to 1-million metric tons. Reasons for the shortage include drought and disease. Farmers are now experimenting with new strains of cacao.
TREES
Injecting trees in the UK with a concentrated form of garlic might help save them from deadly diseases. Widespread use of the injection process is impractical and expensive but it could potentially help save trees of historic or sentimental value. The experimental injection device is made up of a pressurized chamber and eight “octopus” tubes which inject the solution into the sap system. Garlic is one of nature’s most powerful antibacterial and antifungal agents.
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