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New Zealand sentenced the mosque shooter to life in prison without parole. The hearings this week for the first time allowed survivors and family members of victims to confront the far-right Australian man who last year opened fire at two mosques, killing 51 people.
A US sports walkout over a Wisconsin police shooting widened. The Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka pulled out of today’s Western and Southern Open semi-final while the NBA also postponed several games after teams went on strike. A white teen has been held for shooting two people at fresh street protests over police brutality against black people. Meanwhile, vice president Mike Pence closed the third night of the Republican National Convention by promising to restore “law and order.”
TikTok’s new US CEO quit in less than three months. The US-China tensions centering on the app reportedly were too much for Disney veteran Kevin Mayer, who took over the reins on June 1 as part of the company’s attempts to downplay its Chinese roots. The White House has issued a ban on the app to take effect in September.
China’s foreign minister is in Norway. Wang Yi’s tour of Europe to counter US lobbying against China isn’t going as smoothly as hoped, with Dutch politicians spotlighting China’s human rights abuses. In Norway, which Beijing sees as key to its future “Polar Silk Road,” the two countries are renegotiating a free trade agreement.
Obsession Interlude: Fixing capitalism
Should we be worried about a stock bubble? It seems odd to discuss irrational exuberance when the economy is anything but exuberant, but these are unlikely times.
To help answer this question, consider Boom and Bust: A Global History of Financial Bubbles, a new book by William Quinn and John Turner. Their research suggests there are three necessary ingredients for a financial firestorm: speculation, marketability (how easy it is to buy an asset—think innovation in stock trading apps, or the brainiacs who brought us mortgage-backed securities), and credit.
Quinn and Turner find that asset booms are happening more frequently, and that government policy—meant to make housing more affordable, or shed unsustainable debts, for example—is often the spark that lights the financial fire. If ultra-low interest rates and the boom in brokerage apps like Robinhood are any indications, a bubble in equities could be inflating as we speak.
Pop in here to see what else we’re covering in our new Fixing Capitalism obsession.
Charting the US pandemic pump
The demand for home exercise equipment skyrocketed as a result of US stay-at-home orders. Google searches for “home workout” reached their peak on March 22, the same month that Chinese exercise equipment exports to the US dipped to their lowest point in more than 15 years.
The lion’s share of imported exercise equipment in the US comes from China—some 65% last year—where factories were shutting down at the beginning of 2020 due to Covid-19. But imports have since bounced back, nearing $250 million in June. Still, many of those dumbbells are already spoken for, so those who didn’t successfully pillage their local gyms may still face delays on orders for new weights.
ONLINE LEARNING: PROS AND CONS
👍 Pros: Online education expands opportunities to students for whom a college degree was previously impossible: working adults, single parents, the disabled, full-time caregivers, and students who couldn’t afford the rapidly rising tuition.
👎 Cons: The organic process of learning from peers is replaced by a regimented experience, and that eliminates the campus atmosphere designed to foster critical thinking. Or worse still, online education is just a credentialing service that doesn’t leave room for actual learning.
🤔 The debate: Is college about economic advancement and social mobility, and preparing millions of high school graduates for well-paying careers? Or is it about building character and citizens, and training minds to think critically and with skepticism about the world?
Still on the fence? Read more in our field guide to higher ed going remote.
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We’re obsessed with supermarkets
Our pandemic paradise. They’re sprawling, they’re crowded, they’re overwhelming, and they’re notorious for tricking you into buying beyond your shopping list. But the pandemic has proven how these cold, giant warehouses of excess can still be essential. From initial panic buys to weekly trips that served as our only exposure to the outside world, supermarkets may have bought themselves more time. The Quartz Weekly Obsession needs a price check at register three.
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Surprising discoveries
Music piracy site Napster still exists. And it was just sold to a virtual reality events company.
Rich Nigerians are buying citizenship in the Caribbean. The island nations have fewer visa restrictions than their home country.
Scots Wikipedia was largely the work of one American teen. For years, they edited thousands of articles with little oversight.
Borat beach fashion is back. There’s a new one-shouldered men’s swimsuit called the “brokini.”
Scientists built a teeny-tiny robot army. The nanobots could be used to study the insides of the human body.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, spare passports, and any weights you might have lying around to hi@qz.com. Get the most out of Quartz by downloading our app on iOS and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Tripti Lahiri, Isabella Steger, Jenni Avins, Jackie Bischof, Liz Webber, and Max Lockie.