Since launching Quartz membership late in 2018, we’ve published 58 field guides on the forces changing our world. These member-exclusive reports are designed to be evergreen so that you can draw on them when you need to. Sign up for a free 7-day trial to get access to them all.
From CBD to batteries to Microsoft, our readers’ favorites ranged across topics but shared a few themes: new industries, the race against climate change, and the changing geography of both business and geopolitical influence. Here’s some of our most popular guides in 2019:
- OMG CBD – The market for the cannabis-derived compound is skyrocketing, and projected to earn around $5.7 billion by the end of this year. What is everyone using it for? Broadly, as a cure-all for the modern condition. Does it work? TBD.
- BATTERIES – Our future is electric. It must be, if we’re to move away from fossil fuels. But that transition relies on a technology that is, at root, centuries old. The battery is a key part of our zero-emissions future, and there is a current contest spanning the globe to dominate the technology that will power that future.
- MICROINFLUENCERS – A new era of marketing is upon us, and it has upended ideas about what is an ad and who is a celebrity. To many brands, real “influence” comes from smaller influencers, whose followings are more often the size of a small town than a large country, and who can find specific audiences and build trust with their followers.
- CHINA IN AFRICA – Chinese conglomerates are making the most of Africa’s cheap labor, natural resources, and need for infrastructure. We examine how much those countries benefit; what political influence China gets from its investments; and the culture clashes that arise between locals and Chinese already living and working in African countries both large and small.
- THE NEW MICROSOFT - Microsoft isn’t just “the Windows company” anymore. CEO Satya Nadella has revitalized the company for the new era of tech, when services matter more than software licenses. But the changes are deeper than marketing; Microsoft has fundamentally shifted its business model, without sacrificing growth, to build the 43-year-old company bigger than ever before.
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Best wishes for a restful end of the year,
Erica Rallo
Community manager