In today’s paper:

Kate Lunau and Vincenzo D’Alto have an interesting feature series on fair trade coffee in Nicaragua, and the economic impacts of this producer-friendly system.

Meanwhile, Roberto Rocha’s tech blog is live, renamed “TechnoCité” and with a cute mug shot.

Freelancer Christopher DeWolf has a long feature on the STM’s smart card payment system, which is supposed to go live next year.

This Financial Post story is hilarious, quoting RBC’s chief over ATM fees:

“There are areas of concern [for Canada] such as the accelerating growth in public spending, a tax structure that is biased against investment, a fragmented and expensive regulatory structure, and the deterioration in [Canada’s] competitive position,” Mr. Nixon said.

Exactly. Why focus on issues real Canadians care about? They’re small change. We need to focus on those poor investors who are only getting 6.5% annual return instead of 7%. Those are the people in crisis here.

Not to say I’m all in favour of eliminating ATM fees. After all, that’s what’s given us those white-label ATMs all over the place, which are so expensively convenient. ATMs are the future.