Maybe we’ll finally get that Infrastructure Week

[Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a Swiss Army knife of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - This could finally be our chance to [get a real Infrastructure Week](. - Let students [clear debt through bankruptcy](. - Supply-chain [weatherproofing > trade wars](. - Get [ready for Big Pot](. Biden Makes Interesting Cabinet Choices South Bend, Indiana, has an international airport, a rail line connecting said airport to Chicago, and a 60-vehicle-strong bus service. The town’s former mayor, Pete Buttigieg, may soon command the U.S. Department of Transportation, which has an employee head count numbering more than half of South Bend’s population and oversees, roughly, infinity more airports, trains, buses and roads. This may seem to be another in a recent string of [odd]( cabinet choices by President-elect Joe Biden. But Buttigieg has one big thing on his resume that could help him [turn this typically sleepy agency into a powerful change agent](, writes Noah Smith: his tenure as a McKinsey consultant. These aren’t America’s most beloved professionals, but they do understand slashing costs, Noah notes. And outrageous costs are the biggest impediment to rebuilding U.S. infrastructure and outfitting our highways for an electrified age. A standard Twitter joke of the President Donald Trump era has been to declare “another successful Infrastructure Week” whenever the president is embroiled in controversy. Buttigieg has an opportunity to turn that joke into something serious. One of the gigs reportedly available to Buttigieg, a veteran, was running the Department of Veterans Affairs. Instead that nod is going to Denis McDonough, who is not a veteran. Again, not the most obvious choice. But James Stavridis (a veteran) writes [he trusts McDonough can do a good job](, especially with the right team. He’ll really have to, given the many problems that have piled up at the agency over the years.   Maybe the most logical Biden cabinet pick of recent (meaning in the past week or so) vintage is former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm at the Department of Energy. She’s no nuclear scientist, but she has been working on clean-energy projects for years. And as Liam Denning points out, [she certainly gets the automotive industry](, which is where much of the progress on cutting greenhouse gas emissions will come in the decades ahead. Most important, she groks that green auto jobs equal political support. The Washington Post’s James Hohmann suggests Biden is stocking his cabinet with “[Swiss Army knives](” — people who have skills that can apply in many different settings. We’re about to find out if that’s any way to run a kitchen. Further Presidential Transition Reading: - All [Republicans should acknowledge Biden’s win]( and restore confidence in the election system. — Bloomberg’s editorial board - Let’s [not rehabilitate Bill Barr](, who was Trump’s primary enabler. — Bloomberg’s editorial board Student Debt Solution May Hide in Bankruptcy Court Another big decision Biden faces is what to do about the nearly $2 trillion problem of student loans. People on his left want him to cancel all the debt he can, but this is a political minefield and may not even [help]( the economy much. Joe Nocera suggests a fix that could cure a lot of ills: [Let students clear the debt through bankruptcy](. It’s kind of outrageous that they can’t! This would give students a way to escape their debt burden, at a price. It would make lenders stingier, but that might help keep tuition costs down. The federal government would just have to make sure students don’t miss out on college because they can’t get loans. Some Trade Policy Advice for Biden One issue on which Biden and Trump are weirdly simpatico is trade. Both have put the resurrection of American factories near the core of their political personas. Where they differ is over tactics. Trump’s blunderbuss approach has mainly been to tariff everything that’s not nailed down. This hurt the economy and didn’t even close the trade gap. We’ll see what Biden does, but Tim Culpan and Noah Smith suggest he should [abandon any pretense of trying to bring low-end production home](. He should instead focus on creating higher-end factory jobs while drumming up new global partnerships to diversify the rest of the supply chain away from China.     Further Biden Policy Advice: - Biden must [clean up Trump’s mess in the Middle East](, first by reaffirming Israel can’t annex the West Bank. — Hussein Ibish - Removing new sanctions could be the [starting point for talks on a U.S.-Turkey reset](. — Sinan Ulgen Telltale Charts Wednesday’s merger between a couple of small marijuana growers is a sign of an industry [getting ready for pot to become ubiquitous in America](, writes Tara Lachapelle. With some changes, [London’s Oxford Street can survive Covid](, writes Andrea Felsted. Further Reading Government officials, including Trump’s White House, [deserve to be at the front of the line for vaccines](. — Jonathan Bernstein The EU is [preparing a nuclear option to force tech giants]( to follow rules or be broken up. — Alex Webb Industrial [conglomerates are having a moment]( as the business world re-learns how diversification helps in a crisis. — Brooke Sutherland Big IPO pops [aren’t a sign the system is broken](. — Tyler Cowen [Avoid the temptation to load up on Bitcoin](, unless you’re a billionaire or hedge fund with cash to burn. — Mark Gilbert and Lionel Laurent Don’t feel bad about [spending your kids’ inheritance](. You’ll probably need it to survive retirement. — Teresa Ghilarducci ICYMI Now there’s a [Bitcoin whale](. Tax cuts for the rich [don’t trickle down](. What happens [when the 1% relocate](. Kickers [Cheese and red wine are good]( for your brain. (h/t Mike Smedley) [Kangaroos can communicate with humans](, a study has shown. (h/t Scott Kominers) Elderly patients are [likelier to die in surgery if it’s the surgeon’s birthday](. Vulture’s [best movies of 2020](. Note: Please send cheese and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Twitter]( and [Facebook](.  Like Bloomberg Opinion Today? [Subscribe to Bloomberg All Access and get much, much more](. You’ll receive our unmatched global news coverage and two in-depth daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close. 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](.  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