The economists have failed us

Plus: Putin kills his golden goose. [Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a one-and-done parent of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - Economists have [failed us](. - Putin’s toxic behavior is [beyond dangerous](. - [Problematic police officers]( are in America’s DNA. - TikTok is [better than Amazon](. What to expect when you’re expecting. Source: [Heather Joelle Boneparth]( via [Twitter]( I’m Addicted to Berries AMA We talk a lot about the looming [population collapse]( that will soon befall US cities, and the need for millennials to lighten up and [have more children](. But nobody mentions the role berries play in this crisis. How are families expected to pop out two, three, or four kids when the price of strawberries has nearly doubled in two decades? It’s no wonder [one-and-done]( parenting is on the rise: “They won’t really eat the 15-cent bananas or the $3 bag of apples. They want berries. But I can’t keep up. I can’t afford their berry habit,” [Lindsay Gentry recently lamented on TikTok](. "My son will not be going to college because we’ve spent his savings on strawberries,” a viewer replied. "When my son was two he ate 176 blueberries in one sitting. We bought blueberry bushes that year," another admitted. Although the bougie taste of toddlers is a trivial problem compared to, say, [childcare](, it’s reflective of a larger issue: Raising a child in America is increasingly bound to break the bank. “Ohhh, you’ll figure it out,” is [no longer sound advice]( for new parents, as Erin Lowry has written. It takes an estimated $300,000 for a middle-class family to raise a child to 18. Seriously: You can buy six Tesla Model 3s … or have a kid. The US government’s inability to invest a single crumb in parents and their well-being makes matters infinitely worse. Our [lack of a national paid family leave program]( is a disgrace, Kathryn A. Edwards writes. Chances are, we’ll have to wait until 2035 to see any real change, leaving American mothers less healthy and less wealthy, with zero hope of feeding their children’s berry addiction: Fruit costs are only part of a broader inflation problem that has been wreaking havoc on family finances. [Outdated economic analysis]( is largely to blame, argue Philip Cornell and Eugene A. Ludwig. At the start of the pandemic, prices for everything from toilet paper to bacon went bonkers. “SUppLy cHAiN sHoCKs," economists said, noting “WaGeS aRE StAbLE.” With their myopic focus on wages, policymakers made the mistake of shrugging off inflation for too long. Now, three years on, people are paying [$1 for a single egg]( and [cartons of raspberries]( need rationing. The [64% of US consumers]( living paycheck-to-paycheck are proof economists have failed the middle class. [Read the whole thing](. Avoiding Toxic People 101 The oldest woman in the world recently said her secret to living 115 years is “[avoiding toxic people](.” Russia’s oil and gas barons could have used that advice, because President Vladimir Putin undoubtedly holds first place on the “10 Toxic People You Should Avoid At All Costs” listicle. It took 50 years and gazillions of dollars for Russia to build its complex maze of gas pipelines, Julian Lee writes. And [Putin managed to destroy it]( in under 50 weeks, just like that: Before Putin’s “special military operation” in Ukraine, Europe’s energy market was tethered to Moscow. Not anymore. The resulting economic turmoil will surely haunt Russians for generations to come. Russia has tried to counter this by having its hobbled oil tankers make [some weird pit stops]( to keep oil flows close to prewar levels, Javier Blas writes, but at steep discounts. When tanks from Germany and the US arrive in Ukraine, Pankaj Mishra warns, [Putin’s behavior will likely grow more reckless](, throwing Ukraine into another cycle of needless violence and raising the risk of a broader conflict. But that’s the thing about toxic people: They often leave you with no good options. Bonus Oil Reading: Big Oil’s stock-buyback bonanza is [drawing unwanted attention]( to the practice. — Lionel Laurent America Has a Police Problem Children nowadays grow up watching [anthropomorphized police dogs]( rescue missing animals from trees. What these shows fail to mention is that these small-town heroes are also fatally shooting [nearly three people every single day](, by Frank Wilkinson’s calculations. America’s police force has been a perpetual violence machine for centuries, and more often than not its victims are Black. The fatal beating of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols is merely the latest act in a sadistic cycle that counteracts whatever law and order these officers are supposed to uphold. [Body-worn cameras]( were supposed to keep cops in line, Stephen Carter notes. But instead of being a preventative, they’re now routinely evidence in murder trials. Unless we hold Memphis and other cities overrun with police brutality accountable, the violence will perpetuate. Bonus Gun Violence Reading: Can sheriffs really opt out of [enforcing gun laws](? — Noah Feldman Telltale Chart TikTok’s algorithm is kind of like T.J. Maxx. You walk in needing a bathing suit and you walk out with a bikini, plus an electric Himalayan salt grinder, a wool scarf, an overnight lip mask and a tube of foot cream. In other words: It’s scary good at selling you things you absolutely don’t need. Leticia Miranda writes [Amazon’s “catalog-style”]( website is [struggling to compete with the short-form video platform]( that routinely sells out [Hailey Bieber’s peptide lip treatment](. Soon, this chart could look very different: Amazon might be forgiven for hoping Congress chases TikTok out of the US. But Bloomberg’s editorial board argues [banning the wildly popular app would solve nothing](. A better idea would be to win concessions from China on privacy and data security. Further Reading Gautam Adani’s 413-page novel rebuttal to Hindenburg [isn’t going down too well with investors](. — Andy Mukherjee [Toyota’s new CEO]( is a good look. — Anjani Trivedi The Colorado River is [drying up fast]( and needs a rescue plan, stat. — Mark Gongloff Everyone wants to [ski]( in Japan [except the locals](. — Gearoid Reidy Please don’t start binge-drinking right after you [wrap up Dry January](. — Lisa Jarvis If you’ve just been laid off, here’s how to [protect your money](. — Alexis Leondis ICYMI The original Wednesday Addams [passed away](. [There's a typo]( in the new Long Island Rail Road terminal. The pandemic [might be over]( soon. Vancouver wants to [decriminalize hard drugs](. Kickers Jesus has a multi-million-dollar [Super Bowl ad](. NASA is going to visit the [$10 quintillion asteroid](. Marie Kondo [is done]( being neat. The Eagles vs. the Chiefs is a [sibling rivalry](. Source: [Trung Phan]( via [Twitter]( Notes:  Please send $10 quintillion 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 Bloomberg Opinion Today newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( | [Ad Choices]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022