The 25 Companies More Powerful Than Countries: Here’s What We’re Reading Today

Colin Rabyniuk March 16, 2016

The Daily 5 is Sharp’s essential reading list for what’s happening in the world today. Make sure to follow us on Twitter or subscribe to the Sharp Insider newsletter to stay up to date.

Here’s what we’re reading today.

1. Federal deficit to run $30 billion

“The cornerstone of Trudeau’s budget is expected to be the Canada Child Benefit, a new social program that would boost direct transfers to low-income families with children. It was a hallmark of the prime minister’s election campaign. He’s also expected to deliver billions in new infrastructure funding over the next four years, another campaign pledge.” The deficit is significantly higher than the $10 billion pledge Trudeau campaigned on, but is in line with an announcement last month that pegged the baseline deficit at roughly C$18.4 billion.

+1: Justin Trudeau is in New York today to speak at the United Nations. He’s expected to pitch Canada’s return to the UN Security Council, a position Canada was embarrassingly denied in 2010.

2. These are the 25 countries more powerful than countries

“Going stateless to maximize profits, multinational companies are vying with governments for global power. Who is winning?”

3. FIFA acknowledges World Cup bribe money

“While acknowledging for the first time that votes were bought in past World Cup hosting contests, FIFA is seeking to claim ‘tens of millions of dollars’ in bribe money seized by U.S. federal prosecutors.”

4. What would President Trump’s America look like?

“Sixteen years ago, The Simpsons broadcast an episode called ‘Bart to the Future,’ a Back to the Future parody in which Lisa Simpson becomes ‘the first straight woman president.’ Her predecessor? Donald Trump. ‘He left the country broke,’ she sighs.” After Donald Trump racked up big wins in Tuesday’s primaries, taking all of Florida’s 99 delegates in the process, Newsweek examines what the US would look like with him at the helm.

+1: On the Democratic side, Hilary Clinton dominated yesterday’s voting, sweeping all five states.

5. John Cruickshank steps down as Toronto Star publisher

After betting big on its expensive tablet edition, the Star has yet to see the app gain any traction. The paper was targeting 180,000 daily app users by the end of 2016. Today, it has about 26,000.