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Here’s what you need to know
China and Russia are building a moon base. They agreed to construct an “International Lunar Science Station” on the surface or in orbit.
UK ambassadors ran into trouble in Asia. Delhi summoned an envoy following a British parliament discussion about India’s farm laws and subsequent protests, while Beijing chastised an ambassador over an article she wrote on foreign media coverage of China.
Delhi laid out a 69,000-crore rupee ($9.5 billion) budget. It includes funds to provide free Covid-19 jabs at all government-run hospitals. Meanwhile, the state of Rajasthan is cutting back on the number of vaccines sent to hospitals due to a shortage of doses.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development improved its outlook. The body’s latest global forecast predicts economic growth of 5.6% in 2021.
China Telecom hopes to raise $4 billion in a Shanghai listing. The Hong Kong-listed, state-owned company is fighting a delisting by the New York Stock Exchange.
China has violated every act of the UN Genocide Convention, according to a new report. A US think tank found China showed “the intent to destroy the Uyghurs as a group.”
LinkedIn paused new registrations in China. Parent company Microsoft said it needs to make sure it’s in compliance with local laws.
Joe Biden will host a meeting of the “quad” countries… The US president will join leaders from Japan, India, and Australia on Friday; China is likely to top the agenda.
… And our editor in chief will host you. Join Katherine Bell along with Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar, Path Forward Executive Tami Forman, and Wonderschool co-founder Chris Bennett for our first Make Business Better event. On the agenda: How do we bring women back to the workforce? It’s all happening today, March 10, at 12pm US eastern time. Register here.
What to watch for
Roblox is going public with a direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange today. If you’re not 10 years old, you may not be familiar with the online game. Quartz’s Oliver Staley explains Roblox to the hopelessly out of touch among us.
Here’s a quick look, by the numbers:
17: Years Roblox has been in business. The company was founded in 2004 by David Baszucki and Erik Cassel, who previously founded a simulated physics lab called Interactive Physics.
37 million: Number of daily active Roblox users at the end of 2020, up from 19 million at the start of the year
$923.9 million: Roblox’s 2020 revenue
$0: Roblox’s profit in 2020 (the company reported a loss of $253.3 million)
$29.5 billion: Amount of the company’s most recent valuation
$250 million: Estimated amount earned by Roblox developers in 2020
199 million: Number of shares up for grabs in today’s direct listing
Charting what politicians do vs. what they say
The expected passage of US president Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan this week offers a sharp contrast to former president Donald Trump’s signature legislation, the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
Breaking out the results by income level shows that Biden’s plan provides disproportionate benefits to the poorest Americans, whereas Trump’s offered the most reprieve to the top 20%.
Welcome to the microbubble economy
Watching the rather exhausting ricochets of GameStop, Tesla, and bitcoin in recent months, many have asked whether we’re in a financial bubble. The answer may very well be yes, but with a nuance: Some experts think there are a series of microbubbles rising to the top of our market champagne flutes.
🌤 The bright side: Lots of microbubbles are better than one big boom—when they burst, they don’t much affect the economy at large.
😎 The brighter side: To torture a metaphor, that champagne is looking like it’s losing some effervescence. In other non-tortured words—the microbubble trend is unlikely to last. John Detrixhe goes into detail on the likely trajectory of the microbubble economy.
✦ Up, down, bubbling, bursting… a Quartz membership will keep you up to date on everything you need to know about the state of the economy. Try it out for a week, free.
Handpicked Quartz
👍 Everything you can do once you’re vaccinated against Covid-19
🗳 China has a gift for Hong Kong: authoritarian elections
📣 How to get more comfortable with public speaking on Zoom—or anywhere else
💥 Is India’s IPO boom hiding a bubble that’s waiting to burst?
🤑 America’s Covid relief spending is set to eclipse all of Europe’s
Surprising discoveries
Female frogs tune out the mating calls of other species. Their lungs let them listen just to suitable males.
The first space hotel plans to open in 2027. Think of it like a cruise ship, but in orbit.
China wants to teach college students about love and marriage. It’s one way to combat the country’s declining birth rate.
MacKenzie Scott chipped in 25% of all US Covid-related donations in 2020. Jeff Bezos’s ex gave away $4 billion (pdf) of her Amazon fortune to pandemic causes.
The US’s first vaccine vial is headed to a museum. The Smithsonian will also display the scrubs and vaccination card of the New York nurse who received the initial dose.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, pandemic artifacts, and space hotel towels 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 Oliver Staley, Tim Fernholz, John Detrixhe, Susan Howson, and Liz Webber.