Roe v. Wade’s fate may be in Brett Kavanaugh’s hands

[Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a Supreme Court decision of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - Brett [Kavanaugh has a chance to prove]( his swing-vote mettle. - Nuclear [fusion is a step closer]( to reality. - America’s [future is older and more Floridian](. - The [dollar is overvalued](. Brett Kavanaugh, Abortion-Rights Hero? Before Brett Kavanaugh became known to Americans as The Guy Who [Liked Beer](, he clerked for Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, who had long been the high court’s swing vote. Kennedy [pushed]( for Kavanaugh to replace him, which suggests he hoped his protege would take his place in the court’s center. Sure enough, that’s exactly what happened, as you can see in this [SCOTUSblog]( chart of the percentage of decisions in which each justice voted with the majority: Of course, the court’s “center” is further to the right than it was for much of Kennedy’s time. Then again, the high court’s latest term offered several disappointments for conservatives, including when they protected the Affordable Care Act for a third time (just seven more ACA defenses, and the justices get a free sandwich).  The [real test of Kavanaugh’s swing-vote stuff is coming soon](, though, writes Noah Feldman. In its next term, the high court will rule on Mississippi abortion restrictions, in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. This decision could overturn Roe v. Wade and a 1992 decision upholding Roe, Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Kennedy infuriated conservatives by joining the majority in Casey. Will Kavanaugh follow Kennedy’s lead in Dobbs? One key question is how much cachet he is willing to sacrifice with conservatives to burnish his reputation with liberals. Read the [whole thing](.  Bonus SCOTUS Reading: Amy Coney [Barrett might not be an extremist](. — Noah Feldman Start Hoarding Trash Now: Fusion Power Is Coming (Eventually) If you’re like me, and I hope you are not, then you probably think all the time about that scene at the end of “Back to the Future” when (spoiler alert) Doc feeds trash into a Mr. Fusion Home Energy Reactor to power his DeLorean into the air and also the future. This technology would solve so many problems at once! According to that film series, garbage-fueled fusion was supposed to be available in 2015. Here we are in 2021, and it’s nowhere close. But fusion tech did advance last week, when scientists zapped hydrogen with a bunch of lasers and [produced]( a mind-blowing amount of energy for a split second — 10 quadrillion watts of energy, which is how much I need before I’ve had my coffee, am I right? Anyway, we’re still far from the days of pouring beer in a Mr. Fusion, but [tech that once seemed purely science-fictional is now real](, writes Bloomberg’s editorial board. Jeff Bezos and other private investors are starting to get involved, adding to a moment that has a very early-days-of-wind-and-solar feel. As with those energy sources, government cash and competition could fast-forward us … to the future. Some Day We Will All Be Florida Man or Woman According to the latest census data, the Villages retirement community in Sumter County, Florida, was the fastest-growing metropolitan area in the United States. [This isn’t exactly the sign of a vibrant economy](, warns Allison Schrager. Once upon a time, Americans moved all over the country for exciting new jobs making blue jeans or Chevys or bald eagles or whatever Americans did back then. Now we move mainly when we’re ready to stop not only shoveling snow — a key benefit of living in Florida — but working altogether: America is just getting older, which is fine. Who among us isn’t? But it’s also getting less flexible, more reliant on government services, and more concentrated in the warm places where retired people go, places that will just keep getting warmer along with the rest of the planet. This could warp America’s economics and politics for a generation. Telltale Charts Investors are getting [carried away betting on the U.S. dollar](, writes Marcus Ashworth. The post-pandemic [boat boom may have some (sea?) legs](, writes Justin Fox. Further Reading The West must keep [supporting girls’ education in Afghanistan](, including pressing the Taliban to allow it. — Gordon Brown Central bankers [shouldn’t meddle in climate change]( and inequality, lest they succumb to political influence. — Mervyn King and Dan Katz The [Fed is doing just enough on climate change](, given its constraints. — Bill Dudley [Republicans fighting businesses’ mask and vaccine mandates]( are the opposite of conservative. — Michael R. Strain Amazon's path from [wrecking physical retail to embracing]( it was blazed 100 years ago ... by Sears. — Stephen Mihm Here’s [what to do if you get an inheritance](. — Teresa Ghilarducci ICYMI The U.S. may be [nearing its delta peak](. [China just crushed Covid cases]( in the most draconian way possible. The [Taliban now has a central-bank chief](. Kickers Italian man gets [a Covid passport tattoo](. (h/t Mike Smedley) PSA: [Do not take horse de-wormer for Covid](. Information [does, in fact, escape black holes](. America once had an [atomic mecha warrior robot](. Notes:  Please send horse de-wormer 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