Bloomberg Opinion

I always feel a little out of place posting about crime here on LinkedIn, but people seem interested, plus this is about crime on the *subway*, which is how I and many of you get to work most days. There was a tiff last week in Washington between Security of Transportation Sean Duffy and my Congressman, Jerry Nadler, in which Nadler said major crime was down on the subway, Duffy said assaults were up, then they called each other liars. Both were in fact telling the truth, and I have a new column (with a gift link that should work for the rest of the week) exploring the not entirely reassuring numbers on subway crime in New York. https://lnkd.in/eVs2C6_t Still, it's important to put the risks faced by subway riders in context, so I also compared the chances of being murdered in the subway if you rode it 500 times last year with the odds of dying from some other causes in other places. The results are striking. (Sawyer County, Wisconsin, is where Duffy grew up, and its average annual mortality rate from traffic accidents over the past seven years is actually on the low side for rural America).

Trump finds himself on the downward, slippery slope of a conspiracy theory he helped set in motion with no obvious barriers emerging to soften his slide. It’s always been thus when scandal and Washington intersect, but this moment is vividly Trumpy and full of karma. On the lessons of mudslinging: https://lnkd.in/eqNepjS5

In just a few months, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has helped bring a pox upon the country — and until Republicans get serious about holding him accountable, more Americans will die, and the president’s legacy on health and safety will be badly tarnished. https://bit.ly/4kLCWBD

In no small part because of the doubt RFK Jr. has been sowing about the safety of vaccines, the US is in the midst of what is shaping up to be the worst measles outbreak since the early 1990s. GOP lawmakers will pay dearly — in lives and votes — for not reining in a peddler of junk science and anti-vax conspiracies. Making America healthy again starts with bringing RFK Jr. to heel — or sending him packing, says Mike Bloomberg. Read the full column: https://lnkd.in/et26FquV

Semiconductors may be the White House’s next tariff target. But duties aren’t going to help bring chip manufacturing back to the US. Read today’s editorial: https://lnkd.in/e5jKe6bi

Time is running out for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. His failure to charm Donald Trump stands in stark contrast to his rival, the late Shinzo Abe. With conservatives abandoning him and supporters feeling betrayed, Ishiba’s approval rating is in free fall. Come Sunday, he may be left with a minority in both houses of parliament. As the crucial upper house vote looms, his inability to secure a trade deal could be the last mistake he makes. My latest for Bloomberg Opinion, free to read for the next week: https://lnkd.in/gsuK8EbD

Lula has emerged as an early winner of Trump's tariff wars. But his strategy faces a clear limit: Brazil can withstand one or two months of tariffs, but it can't afford a prolonged conflict with the US my latest for Bloomberg Opinion on the volatile relationship between the two largest economies in the Americas 🎁 https://lnkd.in/dU_E2kv8

Now for something different. My TikTok video on why Buldak ramen is an $8B brand, with help from our Bloomberg Opinion brilliant social media editor Michael Johnson.

My latest for Bloomberg Opinion on the controversial picks for US ambassadors for Singapore and Malaysia. Perhaps you don’t need to know that much about these nations to represent the US there — you just need to know the President. What do you think? With thanks to Shahril Hamdan Steven Okun for their insights and thoughts. Read more here!: https://lnkd.in/g4sBg-H3

Finance firms have decided they’re done with the carrot; it’s time for the stick. They're cracking down on private equity firms poaching their new analysts, threatening disciplinary action if they accept a job elsewhere early in their tenure and requiring pledges of loyalty. It's a practice that banks have been grappling with for more than a decade. So why the shift to a hardline approach now, after all this time? It’s a reflection of a broader transformation happening across the business landscape. Employers are abandoning the tools of corporate diplomacy as a way to motivate employees and instead shifting to strongman tactics: ◾CEOs are warning that AI could make their employees’ jobs obsolete. ◾They’re silencing internal critics. ◾They’re eroding flexibility, enforcing rigid workplace policies and pushing for longer hours. ◾They’re making layoffs routine and sloppy. None of it gives workers much reason to feel loyal. So rather than try to inspire fealty, bosses are simply demanding it. Common sense suggests this isn't going to work. Companies may end up with employees who are afraid to leave — but that’s not going to result in the same benefits that come with a truly dedicated workforce. My latest for Bloomberg Opinion. https://lnkd.in/exdj3sy2