Stress Tests Show How Vulnerable Canada’s Mortgage Business Is: Here’s What We’re Reading
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. CMHC’s mortgage business vulnerable to sharply rising interest rates
“A sudden sharp rise in interest rates that could cause Canadian home prices to plunge 30 per cent would trigger more than $1-billion in losses to the country’s government-backed mortgage insurer, according to the results of stress tests released today by the federal housing agency.”
2. Viral fake election news outperformed real news on Facebook in final months of US election
“A BuzzFeed News analysis found that top fake election news stories generated more total engagement on Facebook than top election stories from 19 major news outlets combined.”
3. Australia ranked among worst developed countries for climate change action
“Australia has been singled out again as a climate laggard, being ranked fifth-worst for emissions and policies among developed countries and among the six worst countries in the G20 when it comes to climate action.
“In the climate change performance index, released overnight at the UN climate talks in Marrakech, Australia comes ahead of only Kazakhstan, South Korea, Japan and Saudi Arabia.”
+1: France will shut down it’s coal power plants by 2023. – The Independent
+1: U.S. companies to Trump: Don’t abandon Paris Accord – New York Times
4. How far behind is Donald Trump’s transition?
While Trump officially disputes any claims that his transition team is running behind, off-the-record sources have not been so kind to him. Quartz‘s Tim Fernholz has a day-by-bay comparison with Barack Obama’s 2008 transition, which finds the president-elect several days behind his predecessor. The major difference, Fernholz argues, is transparency, though.
“We knew in some detail who was working on Obama’s transition team, and the 2008 president-elect and his advisers made themselves available to the press; we’re still not sure who is handling the details of Trump’s transition and what their philosophy is.”
– Quartz
+1: America’s top spy just resigned, because, you know. – CNN
4. Running is the worst way to get fit
“Running is a crappy way to lose fat and an inferior way to boost cardiovascular health, but it’s somehow become the most popular exercise on Earth after walking.”
– Tonic
+1: The BBC asks ‘What’s the deal with airplane food?’
