Bloomberg Opinion

What if you put AI in charge of a vending machine? Well… Anthropic did, and the result demonstrates something deep about artificial intelligence, writes Matt Levine. Sign up for his free Money Stuff newsletter: https://lnkd.in/etqmfHbV

Breaking: Congress passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” and is sending it to President Trump for his signature so it can become law. Any hope that enough Republicans would have the courage to put the needs of the economy and America’s fiscal position before tax cuts for the rich was met instead with callow cost fiddling, says Kathryn Anne Edwards. Here's why the budget bill is an economy killer: https://lnkd.in/eCn3rrNN

As the US harms itself by turning against trade, it should spare a thought for the pain it’s inflicting on the rest of the world. Read today’s editorial: https://lnkd.in/eRQzjJW3

COLUMN: Donald Trump talks about "maximum pressure" on Iran, but when it comes to the booming oil sector, there's only been "maximum output." Iranian *total* oil production hit a 46-year high in 2024. And this year will see further gains. "The story of how Iran beat US oil sanctions goes back several decades — mixing doses of American realpolitik with Iranian entrepreneurialism and the new geopolitical muscle of China. At times, it reflects how Washington turned a blind eye to obvious violations, preferring instead to keep oil prices down and inflation in check. At other times, it reflects the growth of Tehran and Beijing in sophistication and steadfastness to evade them." #oil #Iran Bloomberg Opinion

Grilling this July 4th? 🍔 Beef prices are way up. Just take a look at these charts:

Last year, Netflix held four board meetings. Jay Hoag, the company’s lead independent director, showed up for only two of them. He also missed one of two meetings of the board’s nominating and governance committee — which he chairs. Life happens. Things come up. People get sick or have personal issues. But Netflix didn’t disclose the reason for Hoag’s absence, which boards usually do when a director doesn’t hit the 75% attendance threshold. Most of us would get in trouble for missing half of our work meetings without explanation. Netflix shareholders seemed to think the same should go for Hoag, rejecting his reelection to the board. His fellow directors, however, decided to keep him on anyway. Hoag, they said, had committed to “returning to his historic pattern of meeting attendance.” Hoag's attendance last year is out of step with the realities of board work today. It has never been so demanding and time-consuming, in part because there’s always a crisis on the horizon. With CEO transitions hitting a record high last year, more boards are stuck running time-consuming executive searches. Activist investors are circling. The DEI and ESG backlashes loom. So do tariffs, AI, wars in Ukraine and Gaza and supply chain disruptions. My latest for Bloomberg Opinion on the end of the rubber-stamping and phoning-it-in era on corporate boards. https://lnkd.in/e8AhNvvv

Between gutting Medicaid and changes to the Affordable Care Act, the latest version of Trump's tax bill will leave some 17 million more Americans without health insurance. If approved by the House, the very Americans who propelled Trump into office — especially those in rural areas in red states — will be among the hardest hit. That’s because a higher portion of people living in rural communities — especially children — depend on Medicaid for health care coverage. The cuts will also further imperil already fragile rural health care systems. That means everyone, even those with private insurance, could soon find themselves driving much farther and waiting longer for care. Read more about how rural communities will take a hit--and how Republicans' $50 billion rural health fund is nowhere near enough to offset the cuts-- latest Bloomberg Opinion column, (gift link): https://lnkd.in/g9J2gQW8

In the past 12 years, climate change has already done $7 trillion in damages to the US economy, making it twice as expensive as the Great Depression. That smashes two myths about global heating: That it's a problem for our grandkids and that solving it will hurt the economy. In fact, climate policy is economic policy. My video for Bloomberg Opinion And a gift link to my column for more: https://lnkd.in/exm77wRx

Latest column

Tesla has now reported two sub-400,000 quarters in a row for the first time since 2022. Another dreadful set of #EV sales numbers underlines the troubles at Elon Musk’s company. The wrinkle is that Musk himself represents the largest part of that problem, says Liam Denning. Read the column: https://lnkd.in/eKJiEgnP