Nord Stream is the latest victim of Putin’s pettiness

Plus: The quiet-quitting myth. [Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a gas leak of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - [Nord Stream sabotage]( is real. - “Quiet quitting” is [mostly hyperbole](. - The [UK has a crisis of confidence](. - [Treasury bills]( are doing the most. Do Revenge We’ve reached the point in the war where Vladimir Putin is getting petty. That high school nemesis who toilet-papered your house after you mistakenly drove over their elaborate promposal with your Jeep Wrangler? Up the ante by about [59.2 billion cubic meters]( and you’ll get a better understanding of what Putin is doing with the [Nord Stream pipeline](. In less than 24 hours, this conduit has sprung not one, not two, but THREE leaks off the Danish coast. Coincidence? Javier Blas thinks not, writing [this has all the hallmarks of a Putin tantrum](. The Russian leader, losing ground in Ukraine, appears to be reenacting [“Do Revenge”]( on the global stage. Except instead of a sex tape, he’s leaking an entire energy source straight into the ice-cold Baltic Sea. The move is desperate but effective, in Javier’s estimation. Gas prices popped, and traders betting on the Nord Stream reopening when Mercury exits retrograde took an L. It will likely get messier from here. The EU’s electricity lines, power transformers and pumping stations are more tangled than your headphone wires after a month in the bottom of your briefcase. All are vulnerable to cyberattacks. Putin is also playing dirty with his own draft, which he initially claimed was meant only for seasoned vets. But Leonid Bershidsky writes [Russian officials are hitting up everyone and anyone](— even their cousin with a [broken leg](! — to fight in this godforsaken war, which, by the way, Putin hasn’t even officially declared. With men fleeing Russia faster than you can say “Charlie Foxtrot,” the only fighters left are those who “fear the uncertainties of emigration more than they fear being killed or maimed in the war,” Leonid writes. This is apparently what Putin wants for his army: [A disenchanted group of hopeless Russians]( who don’t require motivation to wield a firearm. But all the dead and missing men will leave a wider hole in Russia’s already gutted economy. Pettiness can have a steep price. Saying the Quiet Part Out Loud The thing about most humans is that we’re lamer in real life than our online personas claim. That influencer who went on a four-mile hot-girl walk? She probably just took a few steps outside her apartment to vape. Then there’s “quiet quitting.” People who [claim they’re doing the bare minimum to stay employed]( are likely stretching the truth, writes Sarah Green Carmichael. In fact, a growing number of US workers feel underpaid, and are [working harder to boost their salaries](, Charlie Wells writes. Such exaggerated trends aren’t new; they’ve been with us throughout the pandemic, from the “Great Resignation” to “lying flat.” But if they represent the faintest whisper of reality, then maybe they’ll help us separate our work lives from our actual lives — that is, the lame ones we wish were more exciting. The C Word The word of the day is “confidence,” thanks to the UK’s lack of it. The [pound is losing a confidence game](, John Authers writes, and the Bank of England’s response is a sterling example of what not to do. If this is what keeping calm and carrying on gets you, maybe it’s time to panic: But the BOE’s decision to stay aloof, while uninspiring, might have been its safest play, argues Mark Gilbert. [Currency-market intervention is a risky game]( triggering flashbacks to Black Wednesday in 1992. That leaves it to PM Liz Truss’s officials, such as Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, to try damage control. So far their efforts have mainly been greeted with mockery, as in this magazine cover: Therese Raphael isn’t alone in wondering whether [Britain is beginning to look like a bargain for investors](. “The combination of a falling pound and rising interest rates should make the UK look more attractive so it can finance its massive external deficit,” Bloomberg Economics’ Dan Hanson tells her. Still, the country right now seems more fragile than an underbaked Yorkshire pudding. Bonus British Reading: The [sad state of sterling]( has been years in the making. — James Hertling Telltale Charts If your E-Trade account fills you with a sense of existential dread on a daily basis, then maybe you’re doing the whole investing thing wrong. Enter short-term US Treasury bills. These things are [“virtually risk-free and liquid,”]( writes Alexis Leondis. And look at those yields! It’s like a juice cleanse, but for your money. Images didn’t play nice when it experienced five minutes of meme-stock fame right after its SPAC deal closed. Chris Bryant writes the rulebook ought to be changed, because [nobody wants to get burned like this](. Further Reading [Mexican drug cartels are proliferating](. America must step in. — Bloomberg’s editorial board The Fed isn’t being realistic about [the level of pain it’s about to inflict]( on Americans. — Bill Dudley [DART was a success](. But will it work when an asteroid is actually hurtling toward Earth? — Stephen Carter [The real estate crash you should worry about]( has nothing to do with housing. — Conor Sen [Lithium-ion power packs are catching fire too often](. Maybe it’s time to reevaluate their use case. — Anjani Trivedi [Credit Suisse’s salvation]( may depend on a white knight. — Paul Davies If clean, running water is a basic human right, then [why aren’t we acting like it](? — Thomas Black ICYMI Wall Street is about to pay for its [WhatsApp scandal](. The [Texas AG fled his home]( to avoid being served a subpoena in an abortion-rights case. A [Jan. 6 hearing was postponed]( as [Hurricane Ian]( worsened. Kickers [This 518-million-year-old worm]( is both creepy and impressive. [The circular sofa]( is also a neurological hack. Thursday is [National Coffee Day](. Gen Z needs to [learn how to love](. Notes:  Please send circular sofas and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net. 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