Jobs numbers and Kavanaugh, all in one day

[Bloomberg]( New to Bloomberg Opinion Today? [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - Solving the [wage-growth mystery](. - Kavanaugh [nears confirmation](. - Musk does [another thing](. - Brazil’s election [is a debacle](. Solving the Wage-Growth Mystery The [September jobs report]( was weird. Job growth was a lot weaker than expected, but that number will be revised a million times, so ignore it. Unemployment fell to 3.7 percent, the lowest since 1969, which is a more durable and impressive number. But wage growth is still stubbornly slow. This has been driving people crazy for years, but Mark Whitehouse has a decent explanation: [Productivity growth is stubbornly slow]( too. Wages can’t lift off until productivity does. And Trump’s not doing nearly as much as he could on that front, Mark writes. Tax cuts have helped encourage some R&D spending. But Trump’s immigration crackdown, massive deficits and failure to address infrastructure are working in the other direction. Read the [whole thing](. One thing that could help boost wages is Amazon.com Inc.’s new $15 minimum, writes Noah Smith. It’s a sign other [big companies can handle much higher]( wages than the current $7.25 federal minimum. At the same time, though, big companies may be better able to handle it than small companies – so a tiered minimum system might work best. Read the [whole thing](. Surely Trump would like to believe he is creating more jobs than his nemesis Jeff Bezos. In truth, [both Trump and his opponents make inaccurate claims](about the credit the president does and doesn’t deserve for the economy’s strength, Ramesh Ponnuru writes. Trump might like to say, for example, that he is behind the little boomlet in blue-collar jobs that has coincided with his presidency. Justin Fox explains how Trump’s policies haven’t hurt – but nor have they transported the U.S. back to the 1950s. The rise of the service industry and decline of manufacturing is [a long-term trend that’s here to stay](. Kavanaugh Is About to Cross the Finish Line The long, wrenching drama over Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination is about to end. The exact timing of a final vote was uncertain as of this writing, but swing votes Susan Collins and Joe Manchin said they will vote “yes” – guaranteeing Kavanaugh will ascend to the highest court in the land. We’ll have more for our readers on this topic, but the big question is what comes next, for the court and for a bitterly divided country. Noah Feldman writes that liberals won’t warm up to Kavanaugh for a long time – which means he will [likely be an even more conservative justice]( than he would have been without this bruising process. As he [wrote earlier]( and repeated last night, Jonathan Bernstein [doesn’t see it having much impact]( on the midterm elections in November, despite GOP claims it has rallied the base. But the broader effects of it will echo a long time. Elon Musk Tweeted Again Here’s a sentence I will never get tired of writing: Elon Musk tweeted something unbelievable again. This time he taunted the Securities and Exchange Commission … while waiting to settle a big case with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Liam Denning writes this is Plaintiff’s Exhibit 3,748 in the case of  [Tesla Inc. Needs Adult Supervision v. Elon Musk]( (though it’s hard to imagine who’d want to be that adult). Without such oversight, Liam writes in a second column, Tesla stock will [remain the joyless roller-coaster ride]( it has been lately. Musk claims short-sellers are trying to destroy Tesla. As Matt Levine puts it: “If Musk wants to find the people whose false statements are driving down Tesla’s stock price and endangering its survival, [he should look in the mirror](.” Brazil’s Hot Mess of an Election Brazil holds a presidential election this weekend, and hoo boy is it a hot mess. The leading contender is Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right “[dictatorship nostalgist](,” as Mac Margolis calls him. Next in a large pack of candidates is a representative of the far left. Centrist candidates don’t stand a chance, and this probably means Brazil’s many staggering [problems don’t stand a chance]( of being fixed, Bloomberg’s editors write: “Despairing voters have embraced extreme choices. The reforms the country needs will require consensus, and the controversial top presidential contenders seem unlikely to achieve it.” Read the [whole thing](. Bonus editorial: Emmanuel Macron is doing good things for France, but he needs to [heed his critics and change his style]( – for the good of the country and Europe. Chart Attack General Electric Co. sure is paying its [new CEO an unnecessarily high]( base salary. Why, it’s almost as if it still hasn’t learned its lesson, writes Brooke Sutherland (only with less sarcastic snark). OPEC keeps trimming its forecasts of the number of vehicles that will be on the road in coming years – and each of [these little change matters a lot](, write Liam Denning and Nathaniel Bullard. Quick Hits China’s economic model – build many big things shoddily, tear them down, build new big things, paying for it all with debt – [is not sustainable](. – Christopher Balding Russia's GRU spy agency keeps doing a Three Stooges routine while Vladimir Putin sits passively by. This is [dangerous for his regime and for Russia](. – Leonid Bershidsky It won’t be easy, but the U.S. and Europe [must not let Turkey drift away]( from the West. – James Stavridis Globalization is thriving. You just have to [look for it in regional deals](. – Dan Moss By refusing to raise interest rates, [India’s central bank is only delaying]( the inevitable and inviting more instability. – Andy Mukherjee Italy’s new budget plan is [full of hocus-pocus and unrealistic forecasts](. – Ferdinando Giugliano ICYMI The on-again/off-again Saudi Aramco IPO is ([maybe, much later) on again](. David Einhorn says [Tesla looks like Lehman Brothers](. It just keeps getting [worse for New Jersey commuters](. Kickers Local mysterious fire hole [not work of meteorites, Satan](, at least. A 1979 chain email about science fiction was [the first social network](. You may need to connect your [quantum computer to your microwave oven](. (h/t Scott Duke Kominers) Explore the strange allure of [pioneer living](. Here's [every trailer released]( at New York Comic-Con. [Photos of the week](. Note: Please send chain emails, suggestions and kicker ideas to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. 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