Mirror, mirror: Researchers have found that couples do not begin to look like each other over time, but rather that people tend to be initially attracted to those with similar features to their own. Creepy!

Socially Non-Distant: Remember live music? Yes, me too, barely. Someday we'll get back to that, but for now check out these visualizations of the biggest concerts ever.

Hang Sesh: Now that it's getting cold, here's a question we need to ask: when, if ever, is it safe to socialize indoors? This Atlantic piece on the relative risks of doing so is worth your time.

Rent or buy: Analysis in the Globe yesterday shows that since 2003 you'd be better off renting than buying your home.

Apple: The iPhone 12 will debut today and will be 5G-enabled (though that is still not available in most places).

Below zero: Could sub-zero interest rates be around the corner? The Bank of England at least has asked major banks if they are ready to manager zero or sub-zero interest rates.

That's alot of tests: China is testing all 9 million residents of Qingdao for COVID after nine cases were found in a hospital, the first cases of community spread in the country in two months.

$100 billion — that's how much the OECD says could be lost on an annual basis if negotiations to develop global cross-border tax rules collapse. 

Zoom out: With the global economy already knocked back by COVID, an international tarrif war could make things even worse.

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When COVID hit in March, Airbnb lost $1.5bn in bookings nearly overnight and saw the number of weekly bookings drop from nearly 600,00 in February to around 100,000 by mid-April.

By the summer, business had recovered and bookings returned — on some days — to pre-pandemic levels.

So what happened?

The outcome: The company appears to have made it through the worst of the storm (at least so far), future bookings in the US have risen since last year, rental inventory is growing again, and some laid off workers have been re-hired. 

Zoom out: The fate of Airbnb is a useful barometer for travel and leisure businesses more broadly. The company's survival and recovery shows that people are once again spending on holiday stays, but in a very different way than they were pre-pandemic. However, with cases on the rise, this sector isn't out of the woods yet.

Finance ministers and central bankers are gathering (virtually) this week for annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank.

7 months into the pandemic and with the economic recovery losing momentum, to say these meetings matter would be an understatement.

Power shift: Central banks are already running the money printers at full tilt, which means that there's only so much more monetary policy can do. Now the big decisions will be fiscal policy choices made by finance ministers and governments.

The big picture: A major politial battle is emerging over whether fiscal policy — taxing and spending by governments — will continue to be used as a mainly short-term fix for economic slumps or a long-term project to manage the economy and achieve political goals.

The U.S. Justice Department is expected to fire its opening salvo at Google this week, charging the company with anti-trust violations related to its search practices.

The charges: It's not yet clear what the case will focus on, but we have some hints... 

Pitfalls: But anti-trust regulators face some pitfalls in this case...

Zoom out: After years of inaction, U.S. lawmakers are rushing to regulate tech companies, which no longer enjoy public acclaim. But in spite of much furor, regulators have yet to score any major wins.