Weekly Quiz: Shadow Credit, Strategic Parenting, and Stock Flow

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const title = "Shadow Credit, Strategic Parenting, and Stock Flow"; const date = "August 30, 2025"; const data = [ { image: "https://walrus-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/img/WEB_BeefWithKosherBeef_AUG25.jpg", title: "The Beef Over Kosher Beef", url: "https://thewalrus.ca/the-beef-over-kosher-beef/", question: "Canadian guidelines for ritual slaughter—the act of killing an animal to fulfill specific religious or cultural laws—once exempted qualified practitioners from having to stun animals before slaughter, but new regulations are reigniting a complicated conversation that extends far beyond Canada’s borders. Which two countries have mandated pre-slaughter stunning in recent decades?", options: [ "Ireland and Italy", "Norway and Spain", "Sweden and Denmark", "The UK and the US", ], answer: "Sweden and Denmark", correct: "The UK debated the practice ten years ago, when the British Veterinary Association argued for the pre-slaughter stunning of all animals. But today, ritual slaughter is still exempted in the UK. However, some governments—Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, and Slovenia—have mandated that all animals be stunned before slaughter. Dan Jørgensen, Denmark’s former minister for agriculture and food, put it bluntly: “Animal rights come before religion.” Though animal welfare is at the forefront of this conversation, there should be no pretence that this is purely about concern for cows.", incorrect: "The UK debated the practice ten years ago, when the British Veterinary Association argued for the pre-slaughter stunning of all animals. But today, ritual slaughter is still exempted in the UK. However, some governments—Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, and Slovenia—have mandated that all animals be stunned before slaughter. Dan Jørgensen, Denmark’s former minister for agriculture and food, put it bluntly: “Animal rights come before religion.” Though animal welfare is at the forefront of this conversation, there should be no pretence that this is purely about concern for cows.", }, { title: "How “Buy Now, Pay Later” Seduced a Generation—and Trapped It in Debt", url: "https://thewalrus.ca/how-buy-now-pay-later-seduced-a-generation-and-trapped-it-in-debt/", question: "“Buy now, pay later” (BNPL) programs are increasingly popular among the mobile-first generation, but they have quickly evolved into a shadow credit system without the accountability or visibility of traditional lending frameworks. What action did the US government take in 2024 to better regulate the BNPL market?", options: [ "They introduced a federal cap on BNPL interest rates", "They officially recognized BNPL companies as credit card providers", "They restricted BNPL services for users under the age of twenty-one", "They required BNPL companies to register under state-level payday lending laws", ], answer: "They officially recognized BNPL companies as credit card providers", correct: "Last year, then US president Joe Biden’s administration declared that BNPL companies would be considered credit card providers, forcing them to conduct credit checks before lending, but that approach has since been gutted by Donald Trump’s administration. However, a recent announcement is pulling BNPL out of its parallel credit universe: the US credit scoring model, FICO, will incorporate BNPL for the first time this fall. This marks a formal recognition that BNPL is, in fact, a form of credit—with real consequences. The stakes have shifted: missing a payment could now impact your credit score. That shift benefits lenders too. It helps encourage more responsible borrowing and discourages users from taking on more than they can realistically repay.", incorrect: "Last year, then US president Joe Biden’s administration declared that BNPL companies would be considered credit card providers, forcing them to conduct credit checks before lending, but that approach has since been gutted by Donald Trump’s administration. However, a recent announcement is pulling BNPL out of its parallel credit universe: the US credit scoring model, FICO, will incorporate BNPL for the first time this fall. This marks a formal recognition that BNPL is, in fact, a form of credit—with real consequences. The stakes have shifted: missing a payment could now impact your credit score. That shift benefits lenders too. It helps encourage more responsible borrowing and discourages users from taking on more than they can realistically repay.", }, { image: "https://walrus-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/img/WEB_ObstacleParenting_AUG2025.jpg", title: "My Job as a Parent Is to Make My Kids’ Lives a Little Harder", url: "https://thewalrus.ca/my-job-as-a-parent-is-to-make-my-kids-lives-a-little-harder/", question: "For The Walrus contributing writer Michelle Cyca, embracing a parenting style that allows her kids to solve problems independently is one way to push back against the various technologies that seek to “dull their senses”—but no child is exempt from the grasping reach of AI. What major toy manufacturer recently announced a partnership with OpenAI?", options: [ "LEGO", "Spin Master", "Funko", "Mattel", ], answer: "Mattel", correct: "Mattel, the maker of Barbie and Hot Wheels, announced a “strategic collaboration” with OpenAI, the makers of ChatGPT, to “bring the magic of AI to age-appropriate play experiences.” For Cyca, the specifics of technology are less worrisome than what it exploits and reveals: a dearth of curiosity, an unwillingness to rise to challenges, a lack of self-confidence. These aren’t innate qualities; they are cultivated, partly through parents' well-intentioned efforts to help their kids at every step.", incorrect: "Mattel, the maker of Barbie and Hot Wheels, announced a “strategic collaboration” with OpenAI, the makers of ChatGPT, to “bring the magic of AI to age-appropriate play experiences.” For Cyca, the specifics of technology are less worrisome than what it exploits and reveals: a dearth of curiosity, an unwillingness to rise to challenges, a lack of self-confidence. These aren’t innate qualities; they are cultivated, partly through parents' well-intentioned efforts to help their kids at every step.", }, { title: "Boycotts Be Damned: Why Canadian Money Keeps Flowing to the US", url: "https://thewalrus.ca/canada-talks-tough-on-trump-our-money-says-otherwise/", question: "In the wake of Donald Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, some Canadians have become averse to buying anything “Made in the USA.” But while American products sit discarded on shelves, stocks are moving fast. Approximately how much of the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) has been invested in the US?", options: [ "30 percent", "40 percent", "50 percent", "60 percent", ], answer: "50 percent", correct: "The CPP has nearly half of its $714 billion fund invested in the US, compared to a mere 12 percent at home. It’s a strategy deployed by other pension funds that are chasing better returns stateside. All the stand-tall-for-Canada rhetoric is worth a small fraction of the heft of pension funds backed by thirteen figures. These funds exist to make money, so money they’ll chase just about wherever it leads them. American companies tend to be more productive and valuable than others, which is both an indictment of the Canadian marketplace and a reality investors are stuck grappling with—or not.", incorrect: "The CPP has nearly half of its $714 billion fund invested in the US, compared to a mere 12 percent at home. It’s a strategy deployed by other pension funds that are chasing better returns stateside. All the stand-tall-for-Canada rhetoric is worth a small fraction of the heft of pension funds backed by thirteen figures. These funds exist to make money, so money they’ll chase just about wherever it leads them. American companies tend to be more productive and valuable than others, which is both an indictment of the Canadian marketplace and a reality investors are stuck grappling with—or not.", }, ];