We’re not ready for our quantum, high-speed, clean Future

Bloomberg Opinion Today

This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a collateralized debt obligation of Bloomberg Opinion's opinions. Sign up here.

We're looking for your feedback to help improve this newsletter. Please follow this link to our survey, which will take only a few minutes.

Today's Agenda

Quantum computing, high-speed rail and the End of Oil won't be easy transitions.
The market may not let the Fed stop cutting rates.
Attacking Purple Heart recipients is a sorry defense for Trump.
An election will put Brexit opponents on the ropes.

The Future Is Now-Ish

This newsletter loves to joke around about an impending apocalypse, but there's also a good chance we're on the doorstep of a golden age of superfast computing, high-speed rail travel and clean energy that will make us almost forget how we never got those jetpacks and flying cars.

Given the relentless avalanche of Stuff Happening, you might already have forgotten last week's blockbuster news that Google built a quantum computer that can do in 200 seconds what takes a conventional supercomputer 10,000 years. Conventional supercomputer-maker IBM disputed that 10,000-year number, but clearly we're near a literal quantum leap in computing power. So, yeah … what now? Nobody yet knows what this means practically, aside from being able to do math stuff real, real fast. What we do know is the U.S. isn't doing nearly enough to prepare for this era, writes Bloomberg's editorial board. For example, consider the security implications of computers that can crack codes faster than you can remember your ATM PIN number.

Another thing the U.S. isn't ready for is the age of high-speed rail, preferring to wallow in the increasingly embarrassing era of taking carbon-spewing SUVs and airplanes everywhere. China and Japan are way ahead of us, and Europe is diligently doing its part to keep up, with ambitious projects across the continent, writes Chris Bryant. Here again, though, this change brings many challenges, including high costs and still-iffy convenience.

All these fancy computers and trains will need energy to run, the sources of which are rapidly getting cleaner. We wrote about coal's rapid demise last week, and Murray Energy Holdings became the latest victim today. Oil, too, is peaking more quickly than the world expected, writes Noah Smith, as renewable-energy costs plummet. This is long-term great for humanity, but less immediately fantastic for the many American workers and communities dependent on the fossil-fuel industry. Here too, we should be taking steps to prepare for this transition, rather than standing athwart history yelling "Stop!"

Good Night, Fed

Tomorrow will bring another Federal Reserve policy announcement with all the mystery of the 400th time you read "Good Night Moon" to your kid. It's going to cut rates again, because the market long ago decreed it would cut rates, and the Fed does not buck the markets, Brian Chappatta notes. The real fun will come when Fed Chairman Jerome Powell tries to tell the bond market that he would like to take a break from cutting rates, maybe, for just a little while, pretty please. Best of luck with that, Brian says.

The conflict for the Fed is that economic conditions have improved in recent weeks, with the trade war not getting any worse and a no-deal Brexit seemingly off the table, notes Mohamed El-Erian. The Fed also must worry about whether its actions are ineffective without help from disinterested fiscal policy makers.

Impeachment Analyst Ratings

Sell: Witches | Merriam-Webster defines "witch hunt" as:

"1: a searching out for persecution of persons accused of witchcraft

2: the searching out and deliberate harassment of those (such as political opponents) with unpopular views"

All along, we've assumed President Donald Trump means that second definition when he calls his many legal troubles "witch hunts," as he did yet again today. But Jonathan Bernstein thinks we've got it wrong: Trump apparently sees these probes as being run by witches — nefarious monsters out to get him. Either way, he isn't convincing anybody who needs to be convinced.

Buy: Lt. Col. Vindman | Trump's latest "witch" is Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, an Iraq veteran and Purple Heart recipient. He testified today about his firsthand knowledge of Trump pushing Ukraine for dirt on Joe Biden in exchange for favors. Lacking an adequate defense, Trump's cronies immediately trashed Vindman's patriotism. Trump has delivered many low blows over the years, writes Tim O'Brien, but this may be the lowest yet.

Brexit: The Remainers' Last Stand

The U.K.'s House of Commons just gave Prime Minister Boris Johnson an early Christmas present, approving a general election for December 12, when it's not at all miserable to be outside in Britain. Though U.K. elections have been notoriously unpredictable lately, Johnson has the upper hand in this one, writes Therese Raphael. This will be the last stand for Brexit opponents, a proxy referendum on EU membership. It doesn't look good for them right now: Johnson has a clear message, while his opponents do not.

Pound traders are happy either way, writes Marcus Ashworth. They think their preferred candidate, Johnson, will win. And if not, then they expect Labour's Jeremy Corbyn will at least be forced to water down his proposals if he wins.

Further Knifecrime Island Reading: The U.K.'s plan to squeeze migrant quotas and crack down on human smugglers won't stop migrants or smuggling. — Leonid Bershidsky