The Queen's Business Review

We are excited to reveal the full executive team for QBR 2022/23! To begin the year with such a talented group of individuals is thrilling, and we are looking forward to seeing what the coming year has in store!

Despite a deep-rooted and persistent stigma around cannabis, society’s attitudes towards the drug have been slowly changing over the past few decades. Now, with a fully-legal Canadian market and growing State-level legalizations in America, cannabis has become a key segment of the North American economy. In this external submission, fourth-year Commerce student Sam Lampert evaluates the highly anticipated U.S. federal legalization.

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High Times Ahead: A Case for the North American Cannabis Industry The North American cannabis industry is poised to become one of the fastest growing and lucrative markets in our economy.

Though the United Nations declared access to water and sanitation as a human right back in 2010, the fight to bring water distribution and delivery into government hands has not yielded unanimous global success. Many places remain unable to financially provide for their citizens—it is then up to corporations to deliver and distribute water services as needed. Unfortunately, this model has yet to learn from past mistakes in a bid to provide in the future.

In anticipation of our release of QBR's first print edition since 2016, Editor-in-Chief Aritra Saha discusses the pitfalls of water privatization. He touches on the steps required for such a model to ever be possible in a post-COVID world.

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A Tidal Shift: Fixing the Water Privatization Model Water privatization requires an overhaul if it is ever to be a truly successful model.

Historically, empires as we understand them are predicated on conquest and demolishing borders, unifying geographically-dispersed regions under one supreme authority. Yet, power today is more likely to transpire as cultural influence or military might transcending such geopolitical boundaries. In this sense, there are more subtle empires—and modernity shines a spotlight on one in particular.

In anticipation of our release of QBR's first print edition since 2016, Editor-in-Chief Cindy Lin tackles American exceptionalism. In it, she lays out the U.S.'s rise to power and reveals the chinks in its armour in order to dissect its unique position in the world today.

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The Sun is Setting on the American Empire What we can learn from the successes and failures of the U.S. conquest.

The stats largely speak for themselves: Less than 30% of senior-level managers in the finance industry are women. Only about 2% of the fund management industry's assets are run exclusively by women. Women account for less than 25% of the investment professionals in the U.S. venture capital scene. The numbers go on, but the gender discrepancy issues at Smith and the wider finance industry persist.

A year removed from its inception, Editors Olena Halkowicz and Michelle Zou sat down with Queen's Women Investors - QWI co-founders Tina Huang and Helen Wong to learn more about their vision for QWI—particularly how the club fosters a space that emphasizes building confidence and curiosity in the financial markets for women in an industry that has often struggled to bridge this gap.

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Queen's Women Investors QBR sits down with QWI co-founders Helen Wong and Tina Huang to learn of their ambitions and hopes for the club going into its second year.

Turmoil in the capital markets and the real estate industry has been rampant over the past two years—in no small part due to COVID-19. While many individuals have leveraged the low interest rates within these markets, questions are now slowly mounting as the Bank of Canada has decided to increase rates to help the nation's economic recovery efforts. With increasing rates, some economists question if investors will be able to afford the high interest payments as many people have taken on loans which they may no longer be able to afford.

Editor Dhruv Shah addresses how the low interest rates have influenced consumer purchasing decisions over the past two years, analyzing further what will happen to these same people when interest rates rise on future payments.

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Increasing Interest Rates Canada's economic recovery plan involving increasing interest rates is likely to create potential hurdles for consumers reaping the benefits of smaller interest payments.

With the bullish trend of crypto assets, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have piqued the interest of investors and art fanatics alike. Although some question their legitimacy and sustainability, others praise it as a generational opportunity for modern art.

Editor Alex Sun addresses how NFTs operate within the crypto ecosystem and analyzes the unique challenge of defining value in today’s digital world.

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NFTs & the Blockchain The breakthrough of non-fungible tokens within the crypto investing landscape, while new and material, holds serious questions over the viability of the products and their purchases.

Relative to the mercurial, heuristic-ridden decision-making processes of humans, computerized processes enjoy presumptions of legitimacy and objectivity. However, algorithms offer no real guarantee of being less biased than their creators and can enact much more harm in generating inequitable conclusions at a scale previously unimaginable.

Editor Michelle Zou examines a few of the core issues associated with the usage of algorithms in hiring and the dangers of allowing algorithmic screening to play a significant role in determining employment candidacy.

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Algorithmic Bias in Hiring The advent of technology within hiring practices provides efficiencies and cost savings at the expense of proper decision-making and care for sensitivities that cannot be detected by algorithms

Facial recognition technology proposes unanticipated consequences for citizens and countries alike. The privacy concerns and discriminatory practices suggest governments rethink their use of broad surveillance methods.

Editor Sanjana Sadh breaks down the use of artificial intelligence for crime reduction and foreshadows the heightened risk to society.

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The Death of Privacy Increased proliferation of facial recognition technology in society is altering what it means to uphold privacy

It has only been just over a few months since the Super League crumbled in less than 24 hours. Although unsuccessful, the venture was a stark reminder that sports are ultimately a business. Although the interests tend to conflict, not every investment into sports should be seen in that same light.

In this piece, Senior Editor Joe Ryan discusses the heightened interest private equity has in the sports industry, and why it may not be all that bad for fans.

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From Billionaires to Billion Shares Private Equity investment into professional sports can be a potential boon for the industry going forward

While alternate forms of lending can give consumers more control over their finances, a significant risk exists that the opposite may be true. Simplicity and ease are at the forefront of the BNPL strategy, and with hidden late fees, consumers are more likely to spend beyond their financial means.

Editor Olena Halkowicz dives into the increasingly popular ‘Buy now, pay later’ lending model and underscores the pitfalls associated with its growing prominence.

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Under the Guise of Financial Freedom Alternative credit functions such as 'Buy now, pay later' can drive poor decision-making for consumers

Coronavirus relief packages have seen the government take on significant amounts of debt, with stimulus packages on par with World War II spending. This has led to a resurgence in alternative economic theories, including Modern Monetary Theory.

Editor Claire Murphy discusses Modern Monetary Theory and the concerns Canadians should have about our growing deficit.

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Canada's Deficit Current Canadian federal spending poses long-term risks for the health of the country that cannot be remediated with alternative theories like MMT