đ Retail sales circa 1942
Good morning, Quartz readers!
Hereâs what you need to know
Retail sales show that the US economy is just like an old Superman cartoon from 1942. The hero is either the Federal Reserve or the US consumer, depending on how powerful you think monetary policy is.
Tesla slashed car prices in Europe. The price cuts follow similar ones made in China about a week ago. One thing (probably) not coming down in Europe? Interest rates.
Chinaâs internet regulator is looking into Shein. The IPO-hopeful is undergoing a security review of its operations, including how the fast fashion retailer shares and stores data.
The US designated Houthis as terrorists. That means fresh sanctions in Yemen, where the US said itâll try to limit harm to the millions of Yemenis struggling with hunger and poverty. Meanwhile, as conflict in Gaza seeps further outward, hereâs how to consciously talk about it at work.
Apple is once again banned from selling its fancy smartwatches. Their blood oxygen feature is facing another legal test.
US banks may have new limits on overdraft fees. The countryâs Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed a benchmark between $3 and $14, much lower than the $30 to $37 many big banks charge.
The worldâs richest men got $465 billion richerâin four years
The worldâs richest menâElon Musk, Bernard Arnault, Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison, and Warren Buffettâhave doubled their collective wealth to $870 billion since 2020. Thatâs a rate of $14 million an hour, with little sign of abatement, according to a new study from the UK-founded charity organization Oxfam.
Their wealth is rising at such a breakneck speed that Oxfam thinks weâll have our first trillionaire in a decade. Not only is the gap between the ultra-rich and poor becoming unbridgeable (Oxfam says eradicating poverty would take 23 times as long as that trillionaire to emerge), those at the top have waded through inflation pretty much unscathed.
But at least 250 billionaires and millionaires arenât super happy with this, and theyâve got two words: âTax us.â
Whatâs up with the higher-ups high up in the Alps
Speaking of rich people, the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum is happening this week in Davos, Switzerland, and, as always, Quartz is there, taking the temperature (cold, but with plenty of hot cocoa to be found).
đ How much money is the Gates Foundation spending? More than ever before, and reps are wearing backpacks around Davos containing kits of life-saving products filled with the kind of health innovations theyâre rolling out to poor countries around the world.
đ§ đ¤đ° Whatâs on KPMGâs mind? Quartzâs Heather Landy sat down with Paul Knopp, CEO of KPMG US, to talk about how heâs feeling about AI, DEI, upcoming elections, tax policy, andâŚ
đşđŚ Volodymyr Zelenskyyâs bid to get support at Davos. Ukraineâs president made two pleas to a packed audience: help him defeat Vladimir Putin and stop the war, and start thinking about investing in rebuilding Ukraine.
Catch all of our Davos coverage here, and sign up for our Need to Know: Davos 2024 emailâitâs free, and itâs a lot of fun.
China and Italy are now in a situationship
The label may be gone, but China and Italy are still going at it.
In December, Italy officially called it quits on Chinaâs transcontinental Belt and Road infrastructure project. But the breakup hasnât done much to redirect the eyes of Chinese businesses. Theyâre still interested in the Italian commercial arenaâChinaâs shipping giant COSCO just picked up Italian integrated logistics company Trasgo in a deal last week.
Itâs a move thatâll further extend Chinaâs economic reach into Europe, and include a lot of new overseas warehouses for Beijing. Warehouses arenât a terrible date hang if there are raves involved, but it seems like the countries are just trying to keep it cordial.
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đ¤ Hyundai is offering Americans cash to buy its EVs
â°ď¸ What you need to know from Davos, the geopolitics edition
âď¸ Spirit Airlines stock lost almost half its value after a judge blocked JetBlue from buying it
âď¸ Alex Murdaugh faces an uphill battle for a new murder trial
đ˘ď¸ Africaâs biggest oil refinery began production in Nigeria
đ Burger King will spend $1 billion buying its own restaurants
Surprising discoveries
Stores are killing off self-checkout lanes. The reason is theftâeven those who donât want to steal find themselves doing so.
Greenland is starting to look more green and thatâs not good. New data shows the island is losing 30 million tons of ice an hour.
Dogs may wag their tails because humans are fans of rhythm. Well, thatâs cute!
Four new species of octopus were found. Theyâre living their best life deep down off the coast of Costa Rica.
A handwritten eulogy by Roman Roy (Kieran Culkin) sold for $25,000 at an auction. It was up for sale along with 236 other Succession props.
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Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, pura vida shirts, and tail-wagging dances to [email protected]. Todayâs Daily Brief was brought to you by Morgan Haefner and Susan Howson.