Bloomberg Opinion

Is the Bomb the only thing that kept superpowers from triggering World War III during the Cold War? My colleague Tobin Harshaw thinks we should give humans more credit. The prospect of mutual assured destruction represented by massive nuclear arsenals wasn't the key to averting a global conflagration. As he puts it: "Mutual assured destruction has a stronger grip on reality but, in addition to its poor branding, it was widely looked at in static terms: the perpetual presence of civilization-ending weapons poised on a hair-trigger. That model doesn’t hold up, for example, if even one side thinks the escalatory ladder can end with the use of lower-yield, tactical “battlefield” weapons. Abstract theories are all well and good, but let’s face it: politics, diplomacy, military strategy, soft power, even luck — these are the product of actions by fallible, flesh-and-blood humans who change their minds and adjust to new realities, as do their successors with the status quo they inherit. So, if we want to say that a mass of nuclear weapons kept the peace for decades, we need to focus on the men (alas, they are all men of course) in charge, and not the missiles." For proof, he says, look at the flexibility and foresight shown by the evolution in thinking of both Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. #nuclearwar #atombomb #ColdWar

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to cancel $500 million in grants and contracts for mRNA vaccine development jeopardizes the health and safety of Americans — both now and for years to come. The Nobel Prize-winning technology enabled the first Covid-19 vaccines to be developed with breathtaking speed during the first year of the pandemic, ultimately saving millions of lives. Yet Kennedy spent years undermining confidence in mRNA, a misinformation campaign that he continued after he took office. Now, he’s systematically dismantling the very infrastructure we need to respond to a future pandemic. Read more in my latest Bloomberg Opinion (gift link): https://lnkd.in/gRan4x76

The Trump administration is reportedly accelerating efforts to design and deploy a nuclear reactor that can work on the Moon. Whether we will see that before the Epstein files is an open question. The cost of just shipping several tonnes of reactor to our nearest neighbor would be astronomical. But the effort dovetails with the hype around SMRs back here in Earth. Just getting those built within a decade would be a moonshot of its own. Read about it here at Bloomberg Opinion https://lnkd.in/esGy7MiN

The OG Girlbosses are back! And while I never thought I’d say it, I’m actually happy about it. 🔗 Read my Bloomberg Opinion column on how and why they're doing it differently this time around. https://lnkd.in/d26pQA3S 📽 Or watch the video version:

Mostly I write about banking, but sometimes I get to pour my heart out about something deeply personal - like Son Heung-min leaving Spurs! Including my favourite goals and why he's almost as important as Lionel Messi. Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) and Major League Soccer are getting an absolute jewel of a player. Read more at Bloomberg Opinion Tottenham Hotspur Football Club https://lnkd.in/dN3ceeEp

I've long argued that Peloton should make its bikes available in gyms,. Now its set up a division to do just that. Bloomberg Opinion #peloton #fitness https://lnkd.in/eb4HPnAt

It’s hard to say why the unemployment rate for young men is rising, but it’s a disturbing trend, says economist Allison Schrager. Read the column: https://lnkd.in/gtY95Bri

If you’ve spent any amount of time on social media in recent weeks, you’ve probably seen the prototype for the “performative male”: A young, Jacob Elordi-esque man wearing wired headphones and carrying an iced matcha, a tote bag and feminist literature. But in all the descriptions of the performative male, the internet has failed to address a crucial question: Is he employed? In my latest newsletter for Bloomberg Opinion, I attempt to find out: https://lnkd.in/dM2ufTKJ =

The great Girlboss Implosion of 2020 created a whole category of startup founder who seemed destined to be banished from the business world forever. But now, one by one, the the Girlbosses are starting to reemerge. Last week, Tyler Haney said she was returning to her athletic apparel brand Outdoor Voices. Audrey Gelman, who came to fame with her women’s social club and co-working space The Wing, has launched a hospitality company. Steph Korey Goodwin, co-founder of luggage brand Away, started a children’s brand. Reformation founder Yael Aflalo has a new clothing line. I never thought I’d say it, but I’m happy their back. I’m not absolving them of their very real misdeeds. But the business world has given second chances to plenty of male founders of the same era who were often accused of worse — if they even faced any real consequences at all. We should hold all executives to a higher bar than we currently do. But since that doesn’t seem to be in the cards, we shouldn’t create a whole other set of standards for female leaders. I say all this at the same time that I wish a new, more diverse set of founders was being given access to the paltry amount of funding that’s granted to women. My latest for Bloomberg Opinion. https://lnkd.in/d26pQA3S

Who wins the gerrymandering fracas currently roiling Congress is hard to know. But there's no mistaking who will lose: voters. Read today’s editorial: https://lnkd.in/eVaAEFNX