Don’t mess with Texas? Mother Nature didn’t get the memo

Hurricane Beryl left nothing but chaos in its path. [Bloomberg]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a vast global transfer of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - [Hurricane Beryl]( is just the start. - With housing, jobs play [a big part](. - China’s [milk tea craze]( is off the charts. - The [Brazilian real]( was rather smart. Tsk, Tsk, Texas The Texas Constitution requires all appointed officials in the state to take an oath of office. If it were accurate, it would read like this: “I, ________, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the duties of the office of ________ of the State of Texas, and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States and of the State unless there is a severe weather event, so help me God.” Alas, the italicized portion is my addition. But it’s the truth!! How else do you explain Governor Greg Abbott [traipsing]( off to [South Korea]( as Hurricane Beryl slammed into his state? Or Senator Ted Cruz [ditching]( his constituents (and his [poodle](!) to fly to Cancún during a deadly winter storm in 2021? If you’re wondering whether he learned his lesson, [the answer]( is no: What’s worse: Cancún piñas or Spotify podcasts? This level of [bureaucratic inadequacy]( has to be cooked into the constitution. Either that, or Texas is [cursed](: “No other state has suffered more climate-related damage over the past several decades than the Lone Star State — not even Florida, California or Louisiana,” [writes]( Mark Gongloff. Home-insurance costs are through [the roof](, even as lawmakers continue to push aggressive pro-global warming policies. Through early June, the state had suffered more than $417 billion in losses, earning it the top slot on the billion-dollar disaster chart. Hurricane Beryl has left nothing but [chaos]( in its path. After destroying [Jamaica’s]( [banana crops]( and damaging [huge swaths of houses]( in the Caribbean, Beryl [got supercharged]( by hot-tub water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico. Yesterday, Mark says “it made landfall south of Houston as a Category 1 hurricane, bringing high winds, a storm surge and heavy rainfall and leaving [millions without power]( in [sweltering heat](.” Now, millions of Texans are still [without power](, and some are [swimming]( in chemical-laden sewage water. It’s the [earliest]( Atlantic hurricane to reach Category 5 in history, which sadly means this is probably [the first of many]( tropical [cyclone-induced tornado]( newsletters you’ll be reading in the coming months. And David Fickling [reminds]( that it’s not just the US. Weather disasters are unfurling everywhere this year, from [Brazil]( to [Nepal]( to [Bangladesh]( to [India](. “All these events are connected by one vast global transfer of wealth. Climate damage is paid for in nickels and dimes, by individuals in rich countries and poor ones,” he writes. Although there’s not a single culprit, the fossil fuel industry is not helping. David notes how “America is producing more oil and more gas than any nation in history,” and “direct subsidies paid by governments to make fossil fuels cheaper almost doubled to [$1.3 trillion in 2022 from $500 billion in 2020](.” Politics and profit are getting in the way of curbing emissions. Unless every nation has a come-to-Jesus moment à  la the UK, where Lara Williams [says]( the Green Party is a rising force, we’re resigning ourselves to a future of extreme weather [push alerts](, disaster-themed [supermarket cakes]( and [ill-timed]( trips by Texas officials. Yes, In God’s Backyard A decade or so ago, a portion of the parking lot at my childhood church turned into a stack of apartments. I vaguely remember people being upset about this — “Heavens to Betsy, where are we going to park for Sunday mass!?” — but now it’s built and nobody seems to mind it. I was reminded of the drama after reading Kathryn Anne Edwards’s [latest column]( about housing, where she mentions the [YIGBY]( movement, which stands for Yes in God’s Backyard. It’s just one of many viable solutions on the table to tackle America’s housing [shortfall](, which is estimated to be anywhere between 1.5 million to 7 million homes. But suppose every [religious institution]( that could build on their property did. Would that solve the housing crisis? Probably not, says Kathryn. Even if we closed the housing gap and built millions of homes, we’d still have a cost issue. “Consider the standard affordability rule,” she writes: “Housing should occupy no more than [30%]( of income. By that measure, the lowest-income tenth of US [workers]( can afford no more than $733 a month. Nearly 900,000 [workers]( earning at or below the minimum wage can afford no more than $377.” When’s the last time the monthly rent for an apartment was less than $377? The early 1980s, by [this]( estimate. In 2024, you need to [fork over]( at least $1,500 if you want a place to yourself: But maybe it’s less about the price of the place and more about the paycheck of the person wanting to live in it. “The root problem is federal labor policy, which aggressively and systematically aims to keep wages low,” Kathryn argues. “The minimum wage hasn’t increased in [15 years](, leaving it lower than [Turkey’s](. [Weak]( laws and lax enforcement allow wage [theft]( and child [exploitation]( to flourish. A much higher [proportion]( of workers are relegated to low-wage jobs than in other developed nations.” If you’re in the business of complaining about housing availability, you should be mentioning the all the perverse policies that hinder its affordability as well. Amen to that! Telltale Charts The idea of [“cheese foam”]( has never done it for me. But for the millions of milk tea lovers in this world, it’s a preferred topping. Shuli Ren [says]( a flood of venture capital money is fueling around 420,000 milk tea shops in China and generating over $31.4 billion in sales. But too much competition might be getting the best of Chinese businesspeople, she warns: “What started out as a nice way to capture young people’s desire to unwind and relax, has quickly become an intense workout and subsequent burnout.” The creation of the Caesar salad isn’t the only [birthday]( worth celebrating this July. Tyler Cowen notes that [the Brazilian real]( is turning 30 — an anniversary that he says “illuminates both the promise and the limits of reform.” In 1990, Brazil’s rate of [inflation]( had hit 2,948%. To stop the bleed, economists decided to introduce a new currency — the real — in the hopes that it would create a more stable economic environment. “By 1995, the inflation rate was down to 66%, and today it is running at about 4%,” he writes. “The textbook economic formula for fixing a hyperinflation was applied — and it succeeded.” Further Reading Lawmakers, [bump stocks]( have little purpose outside of mass shootings. — Bloomberg’s editorial board Keir Starmer [should assemble]( the smartest people in the room. — Marcus Ashworth [Private equity]( is due for a reckoning, and the consequences for the economy are dire. — Allison Schrager Modi’s [visit to Russia]( could offer clues on how he plans to leverage foreign affairs. — Mihir Sharma Sri Lanka needs a bigger [bond discount]( to bring back tourists. — Andy Mukherjee Rachel Reeves already has [the blueprint]( for a new national pension fund. — Chris Hughes ICYMI Europe rejoins [the space race]( with a new rocket. Drug middlemen [pay their own pharmacies]( more. Gypsy Rose Blanchard [is expecting]( her first child. Tampons might be stuffed with [arsenic and lead](. Kickers Get rich with one [weird trick](. [Endless parenting]( is cool. Hi, mom! A 17-year-old is [shaking up]( basketball. Shrek 5 is [heading to theaters]( in 2026. A Devil Wears Prada [sequel]( is also in the works. Notes: Please send [the Chanel boots]( and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Threads](, [TikTok](, [Twitter](, [Instagram]( and [Facebook](. Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. 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