AMERICAN CONSUMER CONFIDENCE HITS 17 YEAR HIGH
American consumer confidence is rolling the right way and that is up as results for August are the highest level since October 2000 at 133.4 up from 127.4 in July and 127.1 in June.
The Conference Board’s index measures American’s sentiment on current economic conditions and prospects for the next six months, including business and labor market conditions. Since consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity, economists’ pay close attention to the number. The recent Conference Board data shows that consumers South of the border are feeling that the U.S. economy will continue to grow in the near future. However, most are less optimistic about long-term continued growth of the nation’s economy.
CRTC CALLS FOR INCREASED SPENDING FOR PROGRAMMING WITH CANADIAN CONTENT Canadian movies, documentaries, award and television shows will be guaranteed more funding after the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission bent to increasing pressure from creative groups, like The Writers Guild of Canada, the Canadian Media Producers Association and the Directors Guild of Canada and the Liberal government. The CRTC announced Bell Media Inc., Corus Entertain- ment Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc. must spend 7.5 percent, 8.5 percent and 5.0 percent, respectively, of their previous years’ revenue on Canadian content production to renew their broadcast licences. The decision comes as the government reviews broadcast- ing laws to adapt to disruption from the internet. Quotas and Canadian content requirements can seem ineffective and dated as consumers can view just about anything they want online now. However, this is not just a big media regulation as Netflix, which has more than 6 million Canadian subscribers is also included in the Canadian content requirement.
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SEPTEMBER 2018 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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