Elon Musk's Twitter bid threatens the town square

This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a clog dance through Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. Sign up here. Musk’s Twitter bid takes yet another twist [Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a clog dance through Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - [Musk’s Twitter bid]( takes yet another twist. - Putin replaces Mutually Assured Destruction with [Permanently Imminent Apocalypse](. - [Anarchy in the UK](. - Japan is [learning to live with a weaker currency](. The Richest Person in the World Is Taunting Regulators (Again) The US government is considering a national security review of some of Elon Musk’s ventures, including his proposed purchase of Twitter Inc. and SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network, [Bloomberg News reported Thursday](. The Twitter deal has a court-imposed closing deadline of Oct. 28. Will the acquisition proceed? Musk is planning to slash Twitter’s workforce by as much as three-quarters, cutting its staff to a bit more than 2,000 employees from 7,500 currently, the Washington Post reported. “[That should be a worry]( not only to the platform’s staff and users, but for those who care about the flow of information crucial to well-functioning democracies,” Tim Culpan writes. Twitter’s business model is certainly flawed; even with more than 200 million users it’s been unable to stay profitable. Bots and other fake accounts may not be as big of a problem as Musk has claimed, but they are an issue. Drastically shrinking the workforce will just make it harder for Twitter to reform and improve. “To achieve any of the goals Musk claims to have for Twitter he’ll need a capable and well-resourced team eager to make the company better and the platform stronger,” Tim writes. “Slashing staff and hollowing out the workforce would be a clear indication that the mayor of the public town square isn’t so much interested in keeping the peace, but allowing barbarians in the gate.” The Dangers of Disarmament Vladimir Putin’s repeated threats to resort to nuclear weapons in his war against Ukraine [are teaching the world an unfortunate lesson](: “In the brave new world we’re entering — Putin’s world — a country’s best bet for staying sovereign, and a dictator’s best bet for staying in power, is to have nukes,” writes Andreas Kluth. Proliferation is the likely outcome. North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and the mullahs in Tehran have gotten the message. China, India, Pakistan and Israel are likely to either expand or upgrade their nuclear arsenals. South Korea, Japan and Taiwan “could start doubting their safety under the American nuclear umbrella” and seek their own warheads, as could Turkey and Saudi Arabia, Andreas worries. Russia’s aggression “has proven, if proof was needed, that having atomic bombs gives you power, whereas lacking them — as Ukraine does — leaves you vulnerable,” Andreas writes. “As a result, ever more countries will build or grow their own arsenals — and rewrite their strategies for using them.” “A Vintage Long Weekend of Westminster Skulduggery” That’s what John Authers is [predicting](, as the candidates to succeed Liz Truss as UK prime minister scramble to secure the nominations of at least 100 of their fellow Members of Parliament to progress to the next stage of the Conservative Party’s leadership contest, [scheduled to finish by the end of next week](. The hastily amended rules mean no more than three candidates can go through; former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak and current leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt are the frontrunners, both of whom John reckons would be welcomed by financial markets after Trussonomics trashed sterling assets in recent weeks. But — and it’s rather a large but — Westminster is swirling with speculation that disgraced former PM Boris Johnson may fancy his chances of climbing back to the top of the greasy pole. Even though he’s [still under investigation by the Privileges Committee](“for having potentially misled parliament over ‘partygate’ allegations,” enough of the party faithful still view him as their best bet of winning the next election to make a return to office plausible. What the gilt market and the pound will make of BoJo II: The Comeback remains to be seen. Me, I’m backing a stalwart of No. 10 Downing Street to make a surprise bid for the top job: Telltale Charts The Japanese yen weakened below 150 to the dollar this week [without any accompanying fireworks](. “Big hairy numbers have rarely meant as much in practice as they have in market lore,” write Daniel Moss and Gearoid Reidy. “It matters more whether the yen crashes through rather than creeps across the line.” Florida, the sunshine state, lags behind other US regions in capturing solar energy. Regulators need to get [out of the way](, argues Liam Denning: “The lack of support for rooftop solar in a state peculiarly exposed to the rising sea levels and the more intense storms that come with climate change looks ever odder as the hurricane seasons roll by.” Further Reading Credit Suisse needs [a smarter playbook](, not a bailout by Gulf states. — Anjani Trivedi Bonds will determine where [the bear market in stocks]( goes next. — Jonathan Levin [Two bright spots]( in the cooling US housing market. — Conor Sen [Transgender kids don’t have the regrets]( that Republican critics claim. — Lisa Jarvis US refiners eye [an unusual winter windfall](. — Elements by Liam Denning ICYMI Crypto’s $2 trillion wipeout is [coming for the C-suite](. Gautam Adani, Asia’s richest person, is considering [a giant renewables project in Morocco]( to supply electricity and emissions-free fuel to Europe. Putin’s conscription drive supercharges [Russia’s brain drain](. Chess world champion Magnus Carlsen [sued for $100 million]( by teenage grandmaster Hans Niemann over cheating claims. Kickers Taylor Swift’s new album Midnights [broke Spotify](. [These $80 Birkenstock clogs]( — yes, clogs — are a surprise hit with fashionistas. Allegedly. (h/t Andrea Felsted) [First baby bison born in the wild](in the UK for thousands of years (and she’s a cutie). (h/t Lara Williams) Notes:  Please send cute furry animals and feedback to Mark Gilbert at magilbert@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Instagram](, [TikTok](, [Twitter]( and [Facebook](. Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. 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](. 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