Guess what Saudi Arabia and WeWork have in common?

Today's Agenda Saudi Arabia and WeWork should consider long IPO delays. The clock may be running out on populism. New Jersey takes a big step for gun safety. AT&T should look harder for a new CEO. Saudi Arabia, WeWork Share IPO Woes Saudi Arabia and WeWork seem to have little in common. One's a desert nation. The other is a "unicorn" disrupting commercial real estate. One is rich in oil reserves. The other is deep in debt from leasing real estate. But they have similarities: Saudi Arabia is home to Mecca, an Islamic holy site. WeWork, now officially The We Cos., wants to "elevate the world's consciousness." Both are ruled by young, omnipotent monarchs (Mohammed bin Salman and Adam Neumann, respectively). And both face hard choices about selling shares of themselves to the public. In Saudi Arabia's case, attacks on Saudi Aramco facilities have officials reportedly considering putting off an Aramco IPO. They said today they could restore oil production to pre-attack levels by October, which might encourage them to press on with the offering. But the Saudis should take this opportunity to rethink whether to list Aramco exclusively on the local exchange, writes Ellen Wald. Wild trading on the day of the attacks exposed the shakiness of the small Saudi market. We, meanwhile, has already delayed its IPO after investors attacked it with mockery and indifference. Matt Levine wonders what a brief delay will really accomplish; whenever We does go to market, it will still have the same problems, and investors will still have their memories. One problem is that We's biggest owner, Masayoshi Son's SoftBank, needs a steady flow of unicorn IPOs to bolster its earnings, writes Tim Culpan. Even a brief delay means SoftBank needs to push some other unicorns to market, possibly before they're ready. Further Saudi Attack Reading: Investors may think game theory argues against Saudi-Iran escalation. But game theory has been wrong as recently as the trade war. – John Authers  Is Democracy in Crisis or Not? Since roughly 2016, when Britain voted to leave the EU and America voted to make Donald Trump president, the normal functioning of Western democracy has been swamped by a populist wave. The institutional response has been a mix of fecklessness and panic, with some leading Democrats appealing to left-wing populism as a counterbalance. But Michael Strain writes that a study published in 2016 has some good news: Populist insurgencies are common responses to financial crises, and they tend to ebb after about a decade. Our crisis was unusually bad, so the populist rage may last a little longer, but you can already see signs of it waning. Trump infamously won in 2016 despite losing the popular vote, just 16 years after George W. Bush took the presidency under similar circumstances. In both cases, the Electoral College made the difference. Another study suggests such outcomes are to be expected, writes Stephen Carter; the Electoral College gives Republicans a 65% chance of winning close elections. Democrats have complained this weird relic of the Constitution is undemocratic and want to do away with it. Stephen suggests enough popular support (and/or visiting Wisconsin) can overcome this disadvantage. Further Populism Reading: Incredible Hulk Boris Johnson was upstaged by Luxembourg's Ant Man, who exposed how little power Johnson really has. – Lionel Laurent  New Jersey Does the Right Thing States are the laboratories of democracy – or so they say – and New Jersey wants in. The state has just achieved a breakthrough in the fight against America's epidemic of gun violence, Bloomberg's editorial board writes: Governor Phil Murphy has signed an executive order setting strict safety standards for gun makers doing business with the state, including measures to weaken the power of "bad apple" dealers that help guns flow to states with strict laws. Once again, the states are doing much more about guns than Congress. Bonus Editorials: For once, Trump has scored a win on trade, signing a limited pact with Japan. But this deal leaves much room for further dispute and may not even pass WTO muster. Rejoining the Trans-Pacific Partnership would go much further. Britain's over-budget, behind-schedule high-speed rail project has many lessons for politicians pitching big projects. AT&T Should Play the Field AT&T Inc. seems set to replace retiring CEO Randall Stephenson with COO John Stankey. This has attracted the ire of activist investor Elliott Management, which has a point, writes Tara Lachapelle: Stankey is cut from the same cloth as Stephenson and has been the CEO's No. 2 for a long time. He seems unlikely to vary from Stephenson's M.O., which has left AT&T lagging its peers in the stock market and struggling to digest $169 billion in massive acquisitions in the past four years. The company owes it to shareholders to at least look around for somebody better suited to ride herd on the massive media conglomerate AT&T has become. Telltale Charts  Boutique workout experiences have thrived in the economic boom, but the market's oversaturated and vulnerable to a recession, warns Sarah Halzack. Contra Michael Burry, index funds can't be in a bubble; if anything, they're bubble wrap, writes Nir Kaissar. Sure, the stocks inside of them may be expensive, but activist managers are just as responsible for that as index funds. The soaring cost of maintaining a car could push people to buy new ones instead, writes Conor Sen. Further Reading After six years in Russia, Edward Snowden is more toxic than ever. – Leonid Bershidsky  Japan's crumbling countryside shows the limits and downsides of central-bank stimulus. – Dan Moss  A couple of days of chaos in the repo market show the Fed has been snoozing. – Brian Chappatta  Mexico is blowing its chance to profit from China's pain in the trade war. – Shannon O'Neil  ICYMI Israeli election results may be trouble for Benjamin Netanyahu. Health insurance that doesn't pay the bills is flooding the market. Trump's EPA plans to take away California's ability to set emissions standards. Kickers What it was like to fly the X-15. Researchers build microscopic biohybrid robots powered by muscles and nerves. A bizarre sea creature suggests intelligence would re-emerge if life re-started. Eli Manning's benching marks the end of the Forever Quarterback era. Note: Please send robots and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. New to Bloomberg Opinion Today? Sign up here and follow us on Twitter and Facebook. FOLLOW US SEND TO A FRIEND You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Bloomberg Opinion Today newsletter. Unsubscribe | Bloomberg.com | Contact Us Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022