The White House makes chaos out of nothing at all

[Bloomberg]( Today’s Agenda - In Washington, soothing words [don’t soothe]( at all. - The world relies on cargo ships with a [poor environmental record](. - The [success of women]( is creating ideal conditions for an investment boom in Vietnam. When Assurances Are Definitely Not Reassuring You may have noticed there’s a pattern to this White House. 1) Make an unnecessary mess. 2) Try to clean it up; make it worse instead. 3) Try again to clean up the mess that shouldn’t have existed at all. That’s what happened the last few days with the Trump administration and financial markets. Over the long holiday weekend, the president spooked already anxious investors with his latest harsh criticisms of Federal Reserve policy actions — including an awkward comparison to [poor-putting golfers](. Additional unease came in the form of a Bloomberg News report that President Trump [had contemplated]( firing his handpicked Fed chairman over the central bank’s interest rate increases. Trying to calm the markets, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke with CEOs of six large U.S. banks and [tweeted]( that the bank bosses assured him there was plenty of money in the system. It definitely [doesn’t reassure]( financial participants when the Treasury secretary says not to worry about about a problem no one thought banks actually had. Good job, everyone. U.S. stocks didn’t react well to the administration’s self-created crisis, because markets [hate drama like Mary J. Blige](, writes Nir Kaissar. The stock market — President Trump's favorite barometer — is reminding the White House “that [its policies have a price](,” Nir writes. The U.S. economy is still going strong, but [confusing signals]( from the Fed and the executive branch have made America’s economic engine “more vulnerable to the possibility of policy mistakes and market accidents,” says Mohamed A. El-Erian. Justin Fox notes that there were plenty of obvious culprits for the December swoon in U.S. stock indexes besides missteps from political leaders and policy makers. The fear, Justin says, is that Trump’s overly personalized reaction to the recent downturn indicates that [he won’t be able]( to handle an actual economic, financial or political crisis. Noah Smith says there’s [no guarantee]( that the U.S. economy can keep shrugging off chaos in Washington, and Tim Duy argues that the president has [damaged the institution of the Fed](, which could undermine its ability to respond to the next economic crisis.   The White House on Christmas started to move into the re-cleanup stage of its habitual pattern. Trump uncorked a few soothing words about [his Treasury secretary](, the [Fed]( and the [appeal of U.S. stocks](. For good measure, a White House adviser on Wednesday [said]( the Fed chairman’s job is really, truly, double-pinky-swear safe. U.S. stock indexes [surged]( on Wednesday. Entirely self-inflicted and unnecessary crisis all fixed, until the next one. These Barnacles Are Not a Metaphor The cargo ship industry and the nations whose economies depend on ocean freight transport — Hint: just about all of them; 80 percent of world trade goes by water — [need to get more inventive]( to meet goals for cutting greenhouse-gas emissions, Bloomberg's editorial board writes. Fix-it ideas include joint sail and solar power and maybe nuclear reactors, and shifting to on-shore fuel sources when ships are being unloaded. One old-school improvement: Do more to remove barnacles from ship hulls that can increase vessels’ fuel consumption by as much as 20 to 40 percent. More Climate Change Reading: Investors [need more realistic disclosures](from corporations about the direct and indirect costs of climate-linked risks. — Mark Buchanan Bonus Editorial: Missteps in canceling a new airport, slashing pay for government workers and courting politicians of dubious reputation [weren’t a good start]( for Mexico’s new president, who has promised “zero tolerance” in government corruption. Women Could Really Use a Win Many investors are betting Vietnam will be China 2.0 — the next country where economic characteristics, demographics and consumer trends create the conditions for a lasting boom. And [women are the engines of Vietnam’s economy](, writes Shuli Ren. At 73 percent, Vietnam’s rate of female labor-force participation is among the highest in the world. Many of Vietnam’s best-performing corporations are run by women. And women are starting more new businesses than men. Women in Vietnam continue to face obstacles including income inequality. But the vitality of women in the economy is one reason Vietnam is the only emerging Asian country outside of China that received net foreign portfolio inflows in 2018. [Year of the woman]( indeed. Telltale Charts The profit-eating scourge that retailers don’t want to talk about is merchandise returns, which tend to spike after the holidays. (I definitely loved that Christmas sweater from Aunt Edith, thank you.) Sarah Halzack writes that retailers should better harness data that offer a blueprint to [cut down on returns](, such as pricing select products lower to make shoppers feel that returning them isn’t worthwhile. Financial markets have freaked out recently about assets tied to risky corporate borrowings. Two veterans of the market think leveraged loans and corporate credit in general have [unfairly gotten a bad reputation](, Brian Chappatta writes. Further Reading The villains of 2018 are [error-prone world leaders]( who are failing their own citizens and the world. — Leonid Bershidsky Economics is the [latest industry]( to have its #MeToo moment, and it’s long overdue to fix women’s stalled progress in the field.— Noah Smith In a [recap]( of the year in technology for 2018, the standout theme was Facebook's utterly horrible year. — Shira Ovide Also in Facebook: Cryptocurrencies were supposed to challenge incumbent powers in areas such as control of personal data. But Facebook has [selfish ideas for the technology](.— Lionel Laurent Let’s slot of field of prospective 2020 Democratic presidential candidates into a March Madness-like [bracket](. — Albert R. Hunt With Tunisia once again bracing for political upheaval, the head of its central bank [is imposing discipline]( that Tunisian politicians cannot. — Bobby Ghosh The lesson from Philip Roth’s alternative-history novel: [The demagogue lost](. — Joe Nocera ICYMI Climbing stocks [head off a bear market](. Americans [shopped with abandon]( this holiday season. President Trump [visited troops in Iraq](. KICKERS An academic paper found a [correlation]( between presence of a parasite in cat feces and a higher likelihood of entrepreneurial activity. Computers are now the undisputed kings of chess, and they’ve learned to [play with human panache](. Next step: [Skynet](? People who walk dogs are going next-level in [crafting creative communications]( about their strolls and other … dog business … for the clients who want to know everything about their pets. The [highs and lows of personal technology]( in 2018. Fans are fighting over [their favorite “Star Trek”-like series]( currently on air. (Editor’s note: The best all time is obviously “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” Her editor’s note: No, it’s not.) A sweet [homage to Neopets](. Note:  I’m filling in the rest of this week for Mark Gongloff. Please send unwanted holiday gifts, suggestions and kicker ideas to Shira Ovide at sovide@bloomberg.net. New to Bloomberg Opinion Today? [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Twitter]( and [Facebook](. [FOLLOW US [Facebook Share]]( [Twitter Share]( SEND TO A FRIEND [Share with a friend] You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Bloomberg Opinion Today newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022