Brazil’s copycat insurrection won’t be the last

Plus: Soft landing chances improve. [Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, an antidemocratic demon of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - The [assault on democracy]( is just beginning. - The rental market faces [a hard landing](. - The French don’t want to [work longer and retire later](. - The [outspoken CEO]( is a dying breed. The Age of Insurrection What is it about January that makes people want to take a little jaunt in their nation’s capital city for some fresh air, and before you know it, they’re launching a full-scale attack on every democratic institution in sight? Two years ago on Jan. 6, a small group of [violent Americans]( wrote the Proud Boy playbook for “How Not to Throw an Insurrection 101” after Donald Trump invited his radical supporters to storm Congress and prevent Joe Biden from becoming president. We all know [how that worked out](. Fans of Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro apparently felt the American manual lacked pizazz, so they [attempted]( to write their own this weekend. Let’s call it “Insurrection for Dummies.” I took creative liberties in designing a possible cover:  Not for sale. Illustration: Jessica Karl What Eduardo Porter calls a “pathetic” and “crazed” gang of rioters [lacked virtually every element of coordination possible](. Brazil’s congress wasn’t in session at the time of the assault. The inauguration of Bolsonaro’s rival for the presidency, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, had already taken place, and he wasn’t even in town the day the mob trashed his offices. As for Bolsonaro, he hardly seems ready to seize the reins of power, having been spotted moseying around a [Florida Publix]( before returning to his [favorite]( place on Earth, the [hospital](. Little wonder the mutiny was extinguished by Brazilian police within a matter of hours. Still, antidemocratic demons continue to haunt nearly every corner of Latin America, Eduardo writes: And as usual, from Peru to Bolivia, anti-democratic misinformation is being amplified by the very same social-media sites to which we innocently post photos of babies. Just this morning, our tech columnist Parmy Olson [was able to find TikTok videos calling the Bolsonaro rioters]( “patriots” fighting in the name of “freedom.” Companies such as Meta, Twitter and TikTok are cutting corners when it comes to protecting the integrity of global elections — emphasis on “global.” Adding to the neglect is Elon Musk, who reportedly fired Twitter’s entire Brazilian staff. His half-hearted tweet about Brazil looks doubly embarrassing in that light: To “hope” da Silva could successfully extinguish election lies and make things hunky dory with the other side is laughable, Eduardo writes. Brazil and its neighbors will need America’s help to make sure “Insurrection for Dummies” doesn’t become a bestseller by January 2024. A Not-So-Soft Landing I was an English major in college, but my degree absolutely did not prepare me for the language of Wall Street, which is why I keep a running tab of finance-y words in my notes app. (This not only helps me do my job, it also impresses people at the dinner table.) To the lay reader, this arcane catalog might seem like an inventory in a strange and sparsely populated zoo, especially with the section dedicated to animals: bulls, bears, hawks, doves … and don’t forget the [brontosaurus](. Near the top of my list sits the phrase “soft landing,” a term describing the Fed (the pilots) steering the economy (the plane) in a way that avoids recession. Those two words have followed us throughout the pandemic in a will they/won’t they fashion echoing the relationship timeline of Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck. If this chart is any indication, the prospect of a soft landing is looking up: In fact, Robert Burgess suggests “the days of jumbo rate increases by the Fed are probably over,” which might let us [skirt a recession entirely](. Although a “Goldilocks” economy (another word on my list!) would be great, Conor Sen is skeptical there will be [a soft landing in the rental market](. Housing r​​ents plummeted every month in the fourth quarter. Apartment vacancy could hit pre-pandemic levels by April. “All this is happening while there are more apartment units under construction than there have been in more than 50 years,” Conor writes. John Authers, meanwhile, is [rethinking the phrase]( “soft landing” entirely: “Pilots of the economy never get to come in to land. Their whole point is they have to keep it moving. That makes the economy more like the mythical Martlets, birds without legs who are doomed to fly forever. Or, more menacingly, the economy is like a shark, which — as everyone who’s seen Jaws will know — has evolved to eat, move and reproduce.” Hence my latest edition to my notes: the “sharkonomy,” an economy that has evolved to never stop moving, just like a Great White hunting for prey. Telltale Charts The stereotype of European [work-life balance]( is that [workers will have a bar of chocolate for breakfast](, go to work for half an hour and then take a lengthy lunch consisting of two to three bottles of red wine, a bowl of heavy cream and multiple cigarettes. Although this trope is a far cry from reality, the French do have a tendency to retire before a single piece of their hair turns gray, much to Emmanuel Macron’s chagrin. Lionel Laurent [digs into the latest attempt by the French president]( — who is up to his neck in wartime debt — to get his people to ditch their bon vivant lifestyles and retire later à la les Americains: Being a 20-something-year-old social media manager in the age of the culture war is stressful, to say the least. One moment you’re filming a TikTok, the next moment you’re making [CEO-level decisions]( that could make or break the financial health of your entire company. [Deciding what to say about the latest hot-button issue]( “has escalated into a potentially massive reputational and political risk,” Beth Kowitt [writes](. And now many customers think companies make [performative statements]( to save face. Is the George Floyd era of corporate outspokenness on the outs? If the customer is always right, then the answer is yes: Further Reading We [shouldn’t change our laws]( just because George Santos lied. — Matthew Yglesias In a way, McCarthy’s [five-day speaker fiasco]( was worth it. — Robert A. George Xi and Biden can only stay [frenemies for so long](. — Hal Brands China might have the world’s largest battery maker, but [it needs Ford to supercharge EV adoption](. — Anjani Trivedi A messy sibling rivalry is [pure kryptonite for a drama-hungry public](, and Prince Harry knows it. — Martin Ivens The world’s no. 1 restaurant is [closing its doors](. How can you top that in a second act? — Howard Chua-Eoan Want to avoid death? [Human antifreeze]( might be just the thing for you. — Parmy Olson ICYMI Disney wants Donald Duck [back in the office](. [Your gas stove]( might get banned. Apple makes its [chips in-house](. Kickers The “evil gays” [are back](. Is New York [turning into LA](? Your brain gets [better with age](. [Self-driving strollers]( are here. Notes:  Please send obscure finance terms and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@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](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Opinion Today newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( | [Ad Choices]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022