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Here’s what you need to know
Donald Trump is leaving the hospital. However, his doctors warned that “he may not entirely be out of the woods yet” and will continue to receive treatment. The White House press secretary and two of her deputies became the latest of more than a dozen positive cases connected to Trump. Earlier, the World Health Organization also estimated that 10% of the globe may have already been infected with coronavirus.
Europe’s Covid-19 problems are getting worse. As of Monday, only four euro zone countries are currently meeting key benchmarks for containing the virus. A sharp increase in the UK’s infection rate is being blamed on an Excel glitch that left out 16,000 cases. Paris’s rising infection count has led the city to close its bars starting today, but Germany has said it will not shut businesses a second time.
Reliance finally found a deal it didn’t like. The Indian conglomerate has nixed a merger of its Viacom18 entertainment business with Sony Pictures Networks India. Separately, Google said it would postpone a controversial new Play Store billing policy in India after Paytm announced the launch of a “mini app store” for Indian startups.
China once again tests global alliances. On Monday, China said the US and India’s bans on TikTok and WeChat violate World Trade Organization rules. Beijing will likely dominate the agenda of today’s Quad meeting of foreign ministers from the US, India, Australia, and Japan, taking place in Tokyo.
Australia unveils a new budget. The government’s plan to climb out of its first recession in nearly 30 years is anticipated to dramatically increase the country’s deficit—while giving workers a tax cut.
Gucci embraced secondhand goods. In the latest sign luxury companies can’t ignore the resale market, Gucci and luxury consignment site The RealReal announced a new partnership.
THE FOUR SEASONS
It hasn’t even been a year since the first case of Covid-19 was confirmed. That means we’re just beginning to understand how seasonal variations interact with the spread of the disease. Did US computer sales shoot up in the second quarter of 2020 because of Covid-19? Or was it simply because computer sales always go up this time of year? How much can we attribute the drop in marriage to the pandemic, and not whether it was wedding season?
Not accounting for seasonality is one of the easiest ways to find an erroneous trend. As part of our field guide to the data deluge, we explain how to avoid that pitfall.
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Charting vice-presidential ratings
US vice-presidential debates are often an afterthought. Since 1984, when Nielsen started tracking TV ratings for the vice-presidential debates, they’ve garnered modest audiences, relative to their presidential counterparts. But this year’s event between Mike Pence and Kamala Harris could be more momentous than normal.
Though the sample is small, there is evidence to suggest women vice-presidential candidates draw bigger TV audiences. The 2008 debate between Joe Biden (then Barack Obama’s running mate) and Sarah Palin drew 69.9 million viewers—the most ever for a vice presidential debate, and more than any of the three presidential debates that year between Obama and John McCain.
Work smarter not harder
Every day, Quartz at Work helps create a living guide to being a better manager, building a career, and navigating the modern workplace. Here’s some breaking advice on taking next steps:
🖨 Buy a printer. It’s the ultimate unglamorous office appliance—boxy, boring, and completely indispensable.
🏓 Plan your next pivot. There’s never been a better time to learn new skills, like mastering the power of spreadsheet pivot tables.
🛠 Take in a workshop. Last week’s Quartz at Work event on building company culture remotely had a little bit of everything, from the practical—contemporary case studies—to the whimsical—a dash of 17th-century history.
🇨🇦 Explore your options. Here’s the complete list of jobs that make it incredibly easy for Americans to move to Canada.
For weekly updates from the Quartz at Work team, sign up for The Memo newsletter below.
Obsession interlude: Because China
“In the early 1900s, most Americans saw China either through the eyes of traders seeking new markets, or missionaries seeking new converts. During World War II, China was our ally; during the Korean War, our adversary. At the dawn of the Cold War, when I was a young boy beginning to study such things, it was a cudgel in a political battle: ‘Who lost China?’”—Bill Clinton, March 9, 2000
Great hope—and then deep disillusionment—is a place the US and China keep returning to, says John Pomfret (video), author of The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom, a history of US-China relations since the 18th century.
Americans have “these huge expectations for great changes which are invariably dashed and a huge disenchantment will set in,” said Pomfret in 2017, as relations began to spiral. “…[S]imilarly with the Chinese, they also have these views of the United States as being the key to China’s modernity, its modernization, which then inevitably are crushed and they go through their own period of disenchantment with America as well, and we’ve rotated on this cycle for many, many decades now.”
Pomfret’s book is worth a read, and so is Quartz’s Because China coverage, where you’ll find unique perspectives on the US-China frenemyship.
Your virtual guide to understanding China’s influence in Africa. Join us on Oct. 8 from 9:30-10:30am US eastern time for our free virtual event on China’s influence in Africa. Quartz Africa has assembled a group of the leading thinkers on China-Africa relations to bring you up to date on how this dynamic will impact the global economy.
Surprising discoveries
Invite an elephant to your next video chat. “The Elephant in the Zoom” will raise money for the animals’ care in Thailand to help make up for a lack of tourism revenue.
Covid-19 has changed the way Indians do dishes. With many forgoing domestic help during the pandemic, dishwashers are suddenly in high demand.
Japan is canceling a major mascot competition. Organizers said entrants’ aggressive tactics caused the contest to “[lose] its original purpose.”
Apple’s new iPhone software is providing a windfall to designers. One creator has made over $140,000 after posting an image of his minimalist icons.
Facebook banned a fake militia. A role-playing group for the video game Fallout 76 seemingly got caught up in the platform’s recent push to crack down on actual militia activity.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, custom app icons, and ebullient elephants to hi@qz.com. Get the most out of Quartz by downloading our iOS app and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Liz Webber, Jackie Bischof, Tripti Lahiri, Adam Epstein, and Max Lockie.