Putin, Xi and the end of the world as we know it

Putin and Xi Exposed the Great Illusion of Capitalism — John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge A book published in 1919 on “The Economic Co [Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( [Putin and Xi Exposed the Great Illusion of Capitalism]( — John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge A book published in 1919 on “[The Economic Consequences of the Peace](” isn’t the obvious starting place for understanding the economic consequences of the current war in Ukraine. But it’s worth taking a little time to read John Maynard Keynes’s famous description of the leisurely life of an upper-middle-class Londoner in 1913 — just before the Great War changed everything: The inhabitant of London [in 1913] could order by telephone, sipping his morning tea in bed, the various products of the whole earth, in such quantity as he might see fit, and reasonably expect their early delivery upon his doorstep; he could at the same moment and by the same means adventure his wealth in the natural resources and new enterprises of any quarter of the world, and share, without exertion or even trouble, in their prospective fruits and advantages. At the beginning of 2022, many of us shared the assumptions of Keynes’s Londoner. We ordered exotic goods in the confident expectation that Amazon would deliver them to our doors the next day. We invested in emerging-market stocks, purchased Bitcoin, and chatted with people on the other side of the world via Zoom. Many of us dismissed Covid-19 as a temporary suspension of our global lifestyle. Vladimir Putin’s “projects and politics of militarism” seemed like diversions in the loonier regions of the Twittersphere. Now that we have been shaken awake, most of our attention is on the bloodshed in Ukraine, and rightly so. But just as World War I mattered for reasons beyond the slaughter of millions of human beings, this conflict could mark a lasting change in the way the world economy works — and the way we all live our lives. Read the [whole thing](. [Putin Misunderstands History. So, Unfortunately, Does the U.S.]( — Niall Ferguson [Does a Mild Case of Covid Really Damage Your Brain?]( — Faye Flam [What Ukraine Can Learn From Finland’s Stand 80 Years Ago]( — James Stavridis [Markets Are Pushing the Fed Into Developing-Economy Territory]( — Mohamed A. El-Erian [The World’s Deadliest War Isn’t in Ukraine, But Ethiopia]( — Bobby Ghosh [The Solar Farm That Almost Destroyed Copake, N.Y.]( — Francis Wilkinson [What Happens in Russia If Putin Can’t Win in Ukraine?]( — Hal Brands [How to Handle Finances When You Find Love After 50]( — Teresa Ghilarducci [Fright in Bond Markets Feels Like 2007 All Over Again]( — John Authers More From Bloomberg Opinion Here’s what we’ve been talking about this week. - Listen: [Are Bankers as Untrustworthy as a New Study Says?]( with Roy Bahat, Justin Fox, Sonali Basak and Nir Kaissar - Listen: [What if Russia Destroys Ukraine’s Cellphone Network?]( with Tim Culpan and Tae Kim - Listen: [Will Web3 Ever Go Mainstream?]( with Parmy Olson and Dan Hughes - Listen: [Why Mariupol Matters So Much to Russia and Ukraine]( with Bobby Ghosh, Clara Ferreira Marques, Andreas Kluth and Leonid Bershidsky - Listen: “A Long Time in Finance” with Jonathan Ford: [Ukraine and the Great Decoupling]( - Listen: “Follow the Science” with Faye Flam: [Lessons from Germ Warfare Against Rabbits]( This is the Weekend Edition of Bloomberg Opinion Today, a roundup of the most popular stories Bloomberg Opinion published this week based on web readership. Like Bloomberg Opinion Today? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com 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]( [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( | [Ad Choices]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022