Burger chain beefs up sales

A weekly roundup of news and views on money, markets, the economy and more

Fast-food chain bucks fast-food growth trends. North Vancouver-based A&W reported same-store sales growth in 2015 of nearly eight per cent, compared to minus one per cent to five per cent for most of its competition. One analyst says the chain has benefited from being ahead of the curve in serving hormone-free foods. A&W introduced beef raised without the use of hormones or steroids in 2012, followed by chicken and pork raised without the use of antibiotics, and eggs from hens fed a vegetarian diet—a move that was not without controversy, similar to what Earls experienced recently when it went the same route. (CP/The Globe and Mail)

B.C.’s debt delinquency rate is the lowest in Canada: report. The debt delinquency rate dropped in B.C. and Ontario but rose in Alberta and Saskatchewan in Q2 2016 compared to a year ago, according to consumer credit rater TransUnion Canada. B.C.’s delinquency rate fell 0.6 per cent to 2.6 per cent: the national rate was 2.7 per cent, a 3.6 per cent increase from the previous year. (Bloomberg)

The Chinese go “smurfing.” Since China depreciated its currency a year ago, the country’s wealthy have been trying inventive ways to transfer money abroad in search of better-yield investments. A popular way is to pool quotas of a group of family members or friends, with each person transferring US$50,000 out of the country, a process called “smurfing” in the banking industry. Another is to use underground private banks, popular in China’s southeastern provinces such as Guangdong. (South China Morning Post)

A tax is a price. Both are what a consumer has to pay to purchase a good or service, says Université Laval economics professor Stephen Gordon. When the focus is on how carbon taxes work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, there’s not much point in making a price-tax distinction—but equating a carbon tax with big government is a red herring. (Financial Post)

We’re in a low-growth world. How did that happen? Like most things in economics, the slowdown boils down to supply and demand: the ability of the global economy to produce goods and services, and the desire of consumers and businesses to buy them. What’s worrisome is that weakness in global supply and demand seems to be pushing each other in a vicious circle. (The New York Times)