Carney's Housing Plan
Monday, Sept 15th, 2025
World News — China Is Ditching the Dollar, Fast
Economists
China is accelerating efforts to weaken reliance on the dollar as the yuan gains strength amid U.S. fiscal instability and distrust in American trade policy, with Beijing pushing internationalisation through larger use in its own trade, overseas lending, and central-bank swap lines, while expanding alternative financial infrastructure such as CIPS and the digital yuan; although yuan assets still account for just 4% of international payments and 2% of global reserves, its share is growing quickly, helped by record “dim sum” bond issuance, new sovereign yuan debt from countries like Hungary and Russia, and wider adoption by emerging markets, leading Chinese officials to argue that a “multipolar” financial system will force the dollar to compete rather than dominate.
Tech — Apple AI Executive to Leave the Company
Bloomberg
Apple’s senior AI executive Robby Walker, a direct report to AI chief John Giannandrea and former head of Siri, is set to leave the company next month after moving from leading the voice assistant to spearheading development of an AI-powered web search tool to rival ChatGPT and Perplexity, marking another high-profile departure from Apple’s AI division following recent exits to Meta; while Walker’s responsibilities had been pared back in recent months, his exit underscores the challenges Apple faces in revitalising its AI strategy amid delays, executive turnover, and a 7% share price decline this year.
Business — Carney Unveiled New Housing Plan
Bloomberg
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled a C$13 billion ($9.4 billion) plan to tackle the housing crisis by launching a new agency, Build Canada Homes, which will construct 4,000 factory-built homes on federal land as an initial step and provide financial support to developers of affordable housing; alongside funds to preserve rental units and expand supportive housing, the initiative aims to double the pace of construction to 500,000 homes a year, ease pressure from soaring rents and prices fueled by immigration and under-building, and tap federal land and domestic resources, even as Canada faces a likely budget deficit exceeding C$70 billion due to trade tensions with the U.S.
Culture — Is Radical “Left” Violence Really On the Rise
Right-wing activist Charlie Kirk was shot dead while speaking at a Utah university on September 10th, an attack whose motive remains unclear but has reignited debate over the scope and drivers of political violence in America; while President Donald Trump blamed left-wing rhetoric, research projects such as the Prosecution Project, ADL tallies, and data from ACLED and CSIS show that most extremist-related murders and politically motivated incidents in recent decades have been committed by the right, though defining and classifying such violence is fraught with subjectivity, and surveys suggest that only a small minority of Americans openly support political violence—yet in a country awash with guns, even that minority translates into millions of potential actors.
The Daily Spark
The unemployment rate for recent college graduates is rising for men and falling for women, see chart below.
Quote of the Day
“ENORMOUS WINS come at the risk of colossal failures.” ― Sir Winston Churchill