A unified theory of why you should go back to the office

[Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a daily affirmation of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - Yes, there’s a [good reason to go into the office](. - Biden needs to [join the CPTPP](. - Maybe [don’t start a crypto hedge fund](. - Exxon will be [glad it has climate activists on its board](. Your Daily Back-to-Office Affirmation This newsletter was painstakingly composed over several difficult minutes in an Amazon-box fortress on a sprawling New Jersey estate. But there’s a very good chance you’re reading it in an office, or on your way home from an office. There’s also a very good chance you have only recently resumed showering, grooming, dressing and commuting into said office after a long absence. That means there’s also a very good chance you thought to yourself, at some point in that laborious process: “Wait, why am I doing this again?” Great question! You sure aren’t doing it to get more work done. That’s why God created Amazon-box fortresses. The reason you are going back into your office, Sarah Green Carmichael writes, is to [demonstrate to yourself, your co-workers and your paycheck-signers]( that work is important enough for you to shower, groom, dress and commute for it every once in a while. It’s team-building. It’s virtue-signaling, but for money. Sometimes there’s free cake. It’s worth a try.  Paid Post The power of PayPal online, now in person. Give your small business an easy way to accept touch-free, in-person payments. Create a unique QR code with the PayPal app and display it on your device or as a printout in store. [Download the app.]( Customer must have PayPal account and app to pay. PayPal Are We Down With CPTPP?  It’s easy to forget this, because Donald Trump made it all about himself as usual, but opposition to the Asian trade pact formerly known as [TPP]( was at first kind of a left-wing thing. President Barack Obama joined the deal, but Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and others on the left blasted it. Hillary Clinton had to disavow it after first praising it. Trump left it. Now there’s a successor pact, the CPTPP, and President Joe Biden has a chance to join it. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the history, he isn’t exactly jumping at the chance. But maybe he should, suggests Bloomberg’s editorial board. Ignoring the deal signals to Asian allies that America doesn’t care about them. China, meanwhile, is taking steps to join and could influence Asian trade and sway the region against the U.S. [Biden should try to negotiate away the deal’s flaws]( and then join it, not ignore it. So You Want to Be a Crypto Millionaire Naturally, when a person sees all the money to be made, then lost, then made, then lost again in crypto, their thoughts turn to starting a hedge fund. They shouldn’t bother, Shuli Ren warns. [There’s simply not enough money in it](. It’s not that most crypto funds lag Bitcoin, which they do, and which is kind of embarrassing. It’s that there’s simply not enough money invested in crypto — only $3.8 billion split between about 200 funds. That’s not enough to cover even meager salaries, much less Lamborghinis for all. That’s got to be frustrating for the hedge funds, because there are crypto millionaires out there buying Lambos, enough to make a noticeable difference in Lamborghini sales, writes Chris Bryant. This would be the [perfect moment for parent VW to ditch the company]( before it has to solve the difficult problem of electrifying these compensation rockets. But VW is taking the whole [diamond-hands]( thing too much to heart. Further Crypto Reading: Central-bank coins will [create new tiers of currency]( in each nation that adopts them. — Tyler Cowen Exxon’s Sea Change Exxon Mobil is the living embodiment of Big Oil and its history of climate denialism. That’s why it’s so shocking Exxon will soon have a board [peppered]( with climate activists, the result of a stunning proxy-fight loss to an activist hedge fund. Matt Levine had previewed the vote by suggesting [the hedge fund’s approach showed signs of working](. And work it did; though the votes are still being tallied, the only question left is just how many activists Engine No. 1 will get on the board. And yet [this is also a victory for Exxon](, or at least its future, greener, leaner self, writes Liam Denning. Change is hard, and Exxon might not like it at first. But it’s for its own good. Telltale Charts The stock [market’s boom under Biden has been obscured]( by the massive, lagging FANG stocks, writes John Authers. Adjust for them, and the market’s real trend is clear. The[5G wireless race will mainly benefit the app makers]( (those massive, lagging FANGS), not the companies that run the pipes, writes Tara Lachapelle. Those poor saps are just paying up for spectrum and slashing prices for wireless service. Further Reading Senators had a rare [chance to ask bank CEOs serious questions](. You’ll never guess what they did instead. — Brian Chappatta [Florida’s new law punishing social-media companies]( for banning people (Trump) is unconstitutional. — Noah Feldman The Belarusian hijacking is an unwelcome [return of Cold War-era peril for commercial aviation](. — David Fickling Most [Japanese want the Tokyo Olympics canceled](. They probably won’t get their way. — Tim Culpan There’s [no evidence stock buybacks hurt wages](. — Noah Smith Airbnb [deleted my negative review for no apparent reason](. Such shenanigans threaten trust in the site. — Tim O’Brien In St. Cloud, Minnesota, a [police station/community house hybrid]( could be an answer to police reform. — Adam Minter ICYMI JPMorgan Chase fired him for a trading goof. [Later it made him CFO](. Canada’s in [no hurry to open the U.S. border](. Living on [Mars won’t be easy](. Kickers Pot legalization is [putting police dogs out of work](. (h/t Scott Kominers) Your [sunscreen may have benzene](. [Ancient lines in an Indian desert]( may be the biggest drawings ever. [Little paper houses]( for you and me. Tired: square meals Wired: Notes: Please send roundmeal 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. 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