Barack Obama was inaugurated today and while most of his focus will undoubtedly be on turning around the US economy, the question begs - what will the impacts of his tenure be to the Canadian economy and other areas of the world.
Obama's advisory committee has already stated that they are willing to consider lifting trade bans to Cuba. I'm not sure what that country has that they want (the basis of every trade negotiation), other than beautiful beaches and an exceedingly cheap holiday for US citizens.
That's the particular point I am interested in. With an influx of Americanization, how much will Cuba change? Already, Raul (if you don't know, he's Fidel Castro's brother who is now in charge) has made some dramatic changes by allowing citizens to own electronic equipment like laptops...things that were previously unavailable to them. Over the past few years, there's been more of a feeling of Jones-ing there, and if these cool new items are available for 'locals' to purchase, will the trend be for even more doctors and lawyers to move to the tourism sector (to get daily cash tips that are 10x their monthly salary)? And will there be a McDonalds sprouting up on every corner soon, making the streets of Varadero look extremely similar to Cancun?
It's all a guessing game right now, but I'm curious to hear what your thoughts are on potentially lifting the US travel & trade ban to Cuba?
Let me know...
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