A new panel is live, and now we are featured on the CBC website! This time we spoke about three topics:

1. The DoJ suing to split back Ticketmaster / Live Nation: The most significant change versus previous attempts is that now they managed to get everyone angry. Artists, venues and consumers are all affected. Oddly, due to weak antitrust laws in the US, consumers are not considered direct customers of Ticketmaster, so now that artists and venues are shown to be affected, the DoJ could intervene. If successful, this should increase competition in the artist/venue space, not in the consumer one, so don’t expect ticket prices to come down anytime soon.
2. The new low fare from WestJet: WestJet is moving towards an Ultra Low-Cost Carrier (ULCC) model, charging now for the carry-on baggage. This is common in European ULCC, such as EasyJet and others. Changes like this are great for the company as they save on fuel, save on airport fees and taxes, and provide marginally better customer service to those who require overhead bins as there is less demand for them. It also comes with a modest 2% decrease in fares in competitive routes. However, the cost is more fare dispersion. Now you won’t really know what the final price of your ticket will be, and you will need to plan a bit ahead to what you want to bring with you. Also, airports may need to rethink their fee structure, considering they are normally tied to the base price of the ticket.
3. Inflation: The latest inflation numbers were positive for Canada, with a 2.7% annualized rate. However, and what I spoke about in the panel, I expect the BoC will be a bit wary of being too aggressive lowering the interest rate, given the US is still suffering high inflation and the rates between the two countries cannot diverge too much.

Give it a watch and comments always welcome!