Welcome to The Globe and Mail’s business and investing news quiz. Join us each week to test your knowledge of the stories making the headlines. Our business reporters come up with the questions, and you can show us what you know.
This Week: The world continued to anticipate Donald Trump’s imminent return to the White House. The World Bank on Thursday warned that the president-elect’s plan to impose 10-per-cent tariffs on all countries could reduce global economic growth in 2025 by 0.3 percentage point if others retaliate. The effects of across-the-board tariffs on Mr. Trump’s own country would be more pronounced, cutting U.S. growth by 0.9 per cent if retaliatory measures were imposed. But after a visit to Washington, Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson conceded Canada was unlikely to avoid being affected by tariffs. He said he anticipates one of three different scenarios: a 25-per-cent levy on Canadian goods, a 10-per-cent tax for all countries or an escalating tariff that starts low and rises. But was it all Trump this week? Take our quiz to find out.
d. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith refused to sign off on the statement because the federal government was unwilling to rule out restrictions on energy exports as part of its list of potential retaliatory measures.
a. Extreme weather. Insured damage from severe weather events in Canada hit a record $8.5-billion last year, according to the bureau. The 2024 total shattered the previous record of $6-billion set in 2016, after the wildfire in Fort McMurray, Alta.
b. U.S. President Joe Biden used his farewell speech to warn that the increasing power of a small group of ultra-wealthy individuals is putting U.S. democracy at risk. He warned, too, of the potential dangers to democracy from a “tech-industrial complex” composed of powerful Silicon Valley interests.
a. A women’s indoor volleyball league. League One Volleyball – that’s LOVB to you newbies – debuted this month. TGL, an indoor golf league that pits big-name players against one another on a partially virtual course, also launched. If neither of these options appeal, you may prefer to wait for the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, a new chess competition in which players will wear heart-rate monitors and visit reality-TV-style “confession booths.” It starts in February. But no Himalayan climbing league. At least, not yet.
c. It is closing. Nathan Anderson, who started Hindenburg in 2017, said he was disbanding the firm and cited the toll of the “rather intense, and at times, all-encompassing” nature of the work as the reason for his decision. In recent years, Hindenburg’s reports have wiped billions of dollars from the market value of companies including India’s Adani Group and U.S.-based Nikola Corp.
a. Not Like Us. The lawsuit, filed in New York City, alleges Universal Music published and promoted the song even though it included false allegations of pedophilia against Drake and suggested listeners should resort to vigilante justice.
d. About one in four (or 23 per cent to be exact) of Harvard’s 2024 MBA class was still looking for work three months after spring graduation, according to The Wall Street Journal. That is the highest number in recent years – it was only 10 per cent in 2022 – and reflects how difficult it has become to land a managerial job in the United States. Other business schools are reporting similar trends.
d. Goldman Sachs. Mr. Carney spent 13 years at the investment bank after earning a doctorate in economics from Oxford University.
c. BP shares have lagged its rivals and the company is intent on slashing costs to rebuild investor confidence.
a. Because the government seized gold from a company mine. Barrick suspended operations in Mali after the African nation’s military junta seized around US$245-million worth of gold from a company mine in an escalating tax dispute.
b. A massive nuclear plant. In preparation for what it has called the largest expansion of nuclear power in North America, Ontario’s government has instructed its public electric utility to begin planning for a new nuclear plant near Port Hope.