Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Not mainstream media

As noted elsewhere, locked-out CBC employees have taken to creating their own news feed - and this article for one is exactly the kind of coverage the media normally lacks, connecting the mundane news of an increased interest rate to its impact on Canadians:
The rate hike will be a financial shock for some consumers, who are carrying more debt than ever before. Household debt has more than doubled since the early 1980s, reaching an average of $66,800 last year, according to the Vanier Institute of the Family.

“Even small rate increases are significant when you are so indebted,” says CIBC senior economist Benjamin Tal.

Canadians have fuelled rising spending by taking on more debt. While spending and debt have been growing, Tal says incomes have stayed about the same and saving rates have dropped. People can still service their debt because interest payments are so low, but are extremely vulnerable to rising rates.

All too true. Since the CBC's official site is otherwise only featuring wire content, and since the new site is a worthy link in its own right, I'll be switching the side link to CBC Unlocked until the end of the lockout.

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