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Todayâs Agenda
- Fighting climate change [is the new moonshot](, and it must start now.
- A weak jobs report puts [more pressure on the Fed]( to act.
- India is having [a couple of quiet crises](.
- Beyond Meat is [tasty but overdone](.
The New Moonshot: Climate
I recently took my tween sons to see the âApollo 11â documentary, partly just to make them aware that we â Americans, humans âused to actually do incredible stuff like that.
But saving the world from catastrophic climate change is just [that sort of heroic effort, and we can start]( it right now, Bloomberg LP founder Mike Bloomberg writes. It's bigger than going to the moon, and far more vital. Just like the moonshot, staving off the worst effects of climate change will be expensive and sometimes unpopular, Mike notes. Unlike JFK, current president DJT doesnât think the job is worth doing, and his party agrees. But we canât wait and hope for the best in the next election, Mike writes.
So heâs putting $500 million into a new initiative called Beyond Carbon, which will fight Trumpâs regressive EPA, invest in clean technology, and promote political activism for climate solutions.
One excuse for inaction or indifference is that global warming is something that will affect the distant future. But thatâs false; its destructive effects already surround us. â[T]he question isnât, âHow do we tackle climate change?ââ Mike writes. âThe question is, âWhy the hell are we moving so slowly?ââ Read the [whole thing](.
Itâs Beginning to Look a Lot Like Rate Cut Time
Every parent knows you shouldnât reward bad behavior, but sometimes itâs unavoidable. If your kid is melting down in the middle of, say, a funeral, then that kid is probably getting a lollipop. The Fedâs in a similar spot with President Donald Trump.
It became clear today the Fed must soon cut interest rates, as Trump has repeatedly demanded it do, in order to clean up the economic mess his trade hostilities have created. Job growth in May was [worse]( than the market expected, and previous monthsâ numbers were revised lower too. The pace of hiring has clearly slowed, thanks partially to the uncertainty Trumpâs trade belligerence has caused. Unemployment is still low, but that hasnât done much for wage growth. All in all, the numbers suggest thereâs plenty of slack in the labor market, Mark Whitehouse writes â [enough to let the Fed cut rates]( to insure against a downturn without sparking any kind of inflation.
In fact, the bond market is hollering that Fed policy is too tight. Ten-year Treasury yields tumbled after the jobs report, pushing them even further below the rates on three-month bills â the âyield curveâ is deeply âinverted,â in other words. This rarity has been going on for 10 straight days, which Robert Burgess notes has [historically been a guarantee of a recession]( some time in the not-too-distant future. The Fed will probably want to [wait for another disappointing jobs report]( before pulling the trigger on rate cuts, writes Brian Chappatta. But the pressure is on, to the [market's]( â and certainly to Trumpâs â delight.
Further Trumponomics Reading: The early read on the 2017 [tax cutsâ economic impact is underwhelming](; it should be the final nail in the coffin of supply-side economics. â Noah Smith
Indiaâs Quiet Crisis
We donât hear much about it in the West, but Indiaâs shadow banking system has been melting down since what Andy Mukherjee has called a âmini-Lehman momentâ in September. âNonbankâ lenders â those that canât rely on the state or central bank â have been falling regularly. The sector [needs the equivalent of a Troubled Asset Relief Program](, Andy writes, before the pain spreads further.Â
Indiaâs [economy is slowing dramatically](, meanwhile, frustrating hopes it could pass China in growth. Arrogance and isolationism are to blame, Mihir Sharma writes, and until those attitudes change, the country will keep missing opportunities.
Telltale Charts
Beyond Meat Inc. is in a sweet spot of consumer trends, but its [valuation may be a teensy bit overcooked](, given its lack of scale and the risk of big competitors jumping in, writes Sarah Halzack.
Barnes & Noble Inc. has reached the [end of the road as a public company](, and you can kind of see why, Tara Lachapelle writes.
Further Reading
Italy must get its finances in order, but the [EUâs erratic approach to fiscal discipline]( isnât helping. â Bloombergâs editorial boardÂ
Trumpâs threat to target the NHS in U.S.-U.K. trade talks is [a wake-up call for Britain](, highlighting both the health serviceâs popularity and its growing weaknesses. â Therese RaphaelÂ
Europe will finally have a giant tech champion when Naspers Ltd. goes public. But its [ownership structure is unfair and opaque](, and index makers should push for change. â Alex WebbÂ
Hereâs why [Germany would send a warship]( through the Taiwan Strait. â Leonid BershidskyÂ
New Zealandâs [budget prioritizing citizensâ well-being]( is worth emulating. â Cass SunsteinÂ
Joe Bidenâs twists on [Medicaid funding for abortion]( expose his worst traits. â Ramesh PonnuruÂ
Trumpâs ban on fetal-tissue research is pure virtue-signaling; it [wonât stop any abortions](, and could endanger human health. â Faye FlamÂ
ICYMI
Tariffs have [basically wiped out](the average familyâs tax-cut savings.
Nike Inc. employees are unhappy it's [ outsourcing child care](.Â
The other way to become a [Silicon Valley billionaire: real estate](.
Kickers
Nothing terrifying about a [55-story-high infinity pool](, nope.Â
FINALLY, a vending machine for [buying likes and followers](. (h/t Scott Kominers for the first two kickers)
People with [intellectual humility]( know more stuff.
Friends play the [same D&D game]( for 30 years.
[Photos of the week](.
Note:Â Please send followers and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net.
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