Good morning, Quartz readers!
After World War II, the US and UK backed (pdf) the precursor framework to the World Trade Organization, hoping to move the world away from the ill effects of 1920s and 1930s protectionism. They believed the geopolitical gains would be as great as the economic ones.
Today, these two architects of the modern world trade order have taken a sharp turn away from far-reaching global agreements, and gone back to the more cautious approach of negotiating one nation at a time. In 2017, newly inaugurated US president Donald Trump made good on his campaign promise to drop out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), negotiations for which involved dozens of countries. Britain has spent much of the past four years unwinding its participation in the European trade bloc, and is now edging closer to a no-deal Brexit. (It is, however, finalizing trade deals with Japan and Canada.)
Meanwhile, massive new trade blocs are forming elsewhere. Last week, Nigeria ratified the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), with the aim of creating a single market for goods and services. In Asia, 15 countries including China just formed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which could dramatically streamline trade in the region when ratified. As a bloc, RCEP covers more than 2 billion people and $26 trillion in GDP.
It’s unclear if US president-elect Joe Biden will try to join TPP’s successor, or withdraw American opposition to the globalist Nigerian candidate backed by many countries for next chief of the World Trade Organization. Nor is it clear if warnings from British business will finally lead to a deal with the EU. But if the AfCFTA and RCEP countries were able to come together despite the risks, it’s because they believe there is more to gain than to lose. In the US and Britain, it is clear that many have come to believe the opposite. —Tripti Lahiri
Five things on Quartz we especially liked
What about the rest? As exciting as it is to see news about Covid-19 vaccine candidates reaching the main goals of their clinical trials, it’s not a singular race: We need multiple Covid-19 vaccines to end the pandemic. More diverse candidates will have diverse supply chains to help us avoid bottlenecks and increase global access, Annalisa Merelli writes. Plus, more types of vaccines mean more options for healthcare providers to choose from when picking which are best suited to their individual patients’ needs. —Katherine Ellen Foley, health and science reporter
India’s richest man finally makes his move. While global bigwigs like Tiger Global and SoftBank were pumping money into Indian startups during the past decade’s fundraising spree, Reliance Industry’s Mukesh Ambani kept an unusually low profile. It seems he was waiting to strike when the iron was hot, which is now evident from Niharika Sharma’s analysis of Reliance’s recent purchase of pharma startup Netmeds and furniture website Urban Ladder. In the backdrop of the pandemic, these new deals could be particularly lucrative for Ambani. —Manavi Kapur, Quartz India reporter
Joe Biden could usher in the era of the humble leader. I love working for low-ego managers, but the career ladder often seems to reward hubris instead. I was greatly cheered by Lila MacLellan’s story on why humble people make better leaders, and moved by her explanation of how the US president-elect’s personal experience with tragedy seems to have altered the way he relates to others. —Sarah Todd, senior reporter
Who will clean up Facebook’s moderation mess in India? The company is hiring a new Indian public policy head after the last exec, Ankhi Das, was ousted for pushing staff not to apply hate speech rules to members of the country’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Ananya Bhattacharya breaks down how hard it will be for Das’s successor to navigate the political, economic, and ethical pitfalls of moderating content in the world’s biggest social media market. —Nicolás Rivero, reporter
The three-weekend test. Universal Pictures and Cinemark Theaters have struck a “dynamic windowing” deal meant to keep the movie industry afloat despite Covid’s ravaging. After only 17 days, or three weekends, box office disappointments will be pushed out of theaters and onto your smart TV or tiny screen of preference, while money-makers stay on, writes Adam Epstein. He explains why this seismic shift is underway (AMC has signed a similar contract) and how all the key players—”snobbish” filmmakers included—may benefit. —Lila MacLellan, senior reporter
One fun fact, one morbid fact
For a limited time our Weekly Obsession is a Twice-Weekly Obsession, as we take an extra day to examine the future of mobility. To get the full experience, sign up for the email using the button below.
🚇 Subway maps: Most official transit maps are copyright-protected. When they appear on film, props departments often create versions altered just enough to save on licensing fees. Read more about the drama and delightful design behind these old-school navigation tools.
📱 QR codes: A growing number of tombstones feature QR codes, which link to websites where mourners can upload photos, videos, and memories in a digital tribute to the dead. Discover why the widely maligned little black-and-white squares are finally having their moment.
Reader roundtable. Has working from home made you healthier? Two-thirds of remote workers say their lifestyle has gotten healthier since they began working from home, according to a recent Morning Brew/Harris poll. But anecdotally, we know plenty of people who say their exercise habits, diets, or sleep patterns have taken a hit. Write back and tell us: Has your lifestyle gotten more or less healthy since you started remote work? What’s changed?
The Miami model for climate change action
Miami is one of the cities most threatened by climate change in the US. It’s also politically divided: The city swung toward the Republican party in the 2020 election, even though just under 60% of registered voters in Miami-Dade county are Democrats. Nevertheless, Miami has been able to put aside partisanship to confront rising seas and cut carbon emissions. Nicolás Rivero explains how the approach that the city’s local politicians have taken offers a blueprint for how political leaders can move forward even in places where partisan leanings might appear to work against climate action.
You can read more about how Miami and other cities—real and imagined—are responding to the threats of climate change in Quartz’s Green Haven series, and check out some of the ways Silicon Valley is tackling the issue in our recent climate tech field guide.
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Five things from elsewhere that made us smarter
A shrinking population of children with Down syndrome. Because of universal prenatal testing and a progressive attitude towards abortion, Denmark’s population of people with Down syndrome is smaller than it ever has been. The Atlantic’s Sarah Zhang speaks with people who chose to terminate their pregnancies and people who didn’t, and looks at a future population altered by genetic screening for a range of other conditions. —Alexandra Ossola, deputy membership editor
Get us PPE. More than eight months after the start of the pandemic, there is still an N95-respirator crunch in the US. Among the chief reasons is the Trump administration’s utter disinterest in coordinating a national effort to procure and distribute the coveted masks, as the New York Times Magazine details in an expansive piece. The result: a chaotic, cutthroat gray market for N95s. Joe Biden promises to do better, but that may be too late for the victims of the current surge. —Ana Campoy, deputy finance and economics editor
Million-dollar gift shop. Isamu Noguchi would’ve turned 100 years old this past week. Fans of the celebrated Japanese American sculptor are giving him a posthumous present by snapping up $400 bamboo and paper Akari lanterns sold by his museum—and saving it in the process. The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum in Queens, New York tells Bloomberg that the over $2 million they’ve earned from lantern sales is keeping them afloat during the pandemic. —Anne Quito, design and architecture reporter
How a police department becomes murderous. The police in Vallejo, California have killed 19 people since 2010, the second highest rate of any city in the US. For the New Yorker, Shane Bauer documents how Vallejo’s police have come to control local politics, avoiding any repercussions for these killings, while also gaining large pay raises that contributed to the city’s bankruptcy. The article makes the important point that while larger US cities are making progress in reducing police killings, in smaller cities like Vallejo, such murders are actually increasing. —Dan Kopf, data editor
Show me a word that rhymes with Pavement. The surprising power of streaming music service algorithms now extends to accidental hit-making. Spotify’s song-matching algorithm has been surfacing obscure b-sides and album filler at the top of the most-played charts. At Stereogum, Nate Rogers talks to Pavement’s Stephen Malkmus about how one of his old songs resurfaced as a digital hit, and what this trend means for artists and listeners. —Tim Fernholz, senior reporter
Our best wishes for a relaxing but thought-filled weekend. Please send any news, comments, subway map movie props, and QR codes that are actually useful to hi@qz.com. Get the most out of Quartz by downloading our app and becoming a member. Today’s Weekend Brief was brought to you by Tripti Lahiri, Liz Webber, and Kira Bindrim.