Take Trump’s threat to democracy seriously

Follow Us This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, an inspector general's report of Bloomberg Opinion's opinions. Sign up here. Today's Agenda Trump's inspector general firings undermine the rule of law. Financial nationalism is the new front in the China Cold War. America's unemployment system needs an overhaul. Boris Johnson is being hoisted by his own petard. Often saying the quiet parts out loud. Photographer: Sean Rayford/Getty Images North America Trump's Authoritarianism Is No Joke First in his campaign and then in his presidency, Donald Trump has consistently flouted norms and laws in ways that echo authoritarians in other countries. But he's been so incompetent that his authoritarianism could be seen as no real threat to democracy. This is a false comfort. It doesn't take a criminal mastermind to dismantle a democratic system; one petulant leader and a compliant governing party is enough. And that's what we have right now in this president and his GOP. The latest evidence is his dismissals of inspectors general assigned to oversee the State Department, intelligence agencies and the coronavirus response and bailouts, writes Michael Bloomberg. If Republicans don't join Democrats in investigating these firings and holding Trump accountable, then the lawbreaking and corruption already rife in his administration will only get worse.  Unfortunately, Republicans willing to back such an inquiry are scarce in Washington. Most have instead backed Trump in using the rule of law against political opponents while perverting it to defend themselves, writes Francis Wilkinson. It's right out of the authoritarian playbook used in Hungary and elsewhere. The Democrats and news media may not realize what's happening until it's too late to stop it. A Cold War, But for Markets The original Cold War began when the U.S. and Soviet Union tried to divvy up a globe just ravaged by hot war. The new one will apparently begin in financial markets ravaged by coronavirus. In one of the opening shots, U.S. senators voted to kick Chinese companies out of American markets if they're beholden to the Chinese government or won't open their books. Given the track record of some listed Chinese companies, U.S. investors should probably be grateful, writes Noah Smith. But this kind of "financial nationalism" can go too far, he warns, hurting the global economy. But the biggest provocation yet was China's dramatic weakening of its currency this weekend, writes John Authers. This boosts China's exports and seems almost designed to irritate Trump, suggesting Beijing is really embracing the Cold War. This might not be the worst thing, John suggests, provided it means the war never gets hot. But fixing the imbalances — both between and within the U.S. and Chinese economies — fueling all this animosity would be far more productive for all. Further China Reading: China can't spend on infrastructure as it once did without eroding its productivity. — David Fickling. China's big tech spending won't amount to much without research behind it. — Anjani Trivedi You're Gonna Need a Bigger Social Safety Net Those of us who continue to have jobs, knock on wood, were probably reassured to hear the government was giving bulked-up unemployment benefits to the millions who suddenly did not. But those people soon learned the ugly truth: This rescue boat had big, rusty holes in the bottom. It was sort of built that way, in fact: States control unemployment funds, Bloomberg's editorial board notes, and some are much more generous than others. And the entire thing is built on an outmoded framework incapable of handling a tremendous surge of applicants. As a result, millions of Americans have simply lost the unemployment lottery: There's got to be a better way! And there is, in fact: The federal government should spend money to upgrade the system, for one thing. And there's no reason it shouldn't take control of the program, too. Boris Johnson's Very Bad Weekend When Americans left for the long Memorial Day weekend, U.K. Prime Minster Boris Johnson was still reasonably popular despite an iffy coronavirus response. Three days later, Johnson's premiership is on the rocks. His Rasputin, Brexit mastermind Dominic Cummings, was busted flouting lockdown laws, and Johnson keeps defending him. Now these men who led a rebellion against elites are exposed as elitists themselves, writes Pankaj Mishra. As for the U.K.'s handling of the crisis, mistakes continue to be made, notes Martin Ivens. Johnson won a lot of goodwill by catching the coronavirus himself. But he's giving it all away by failing to be forceful or engaged enough to lead. Telltale Charts You may not want to wait around for rock-bottom Treasury rates to translate into even lower mortgage rates, writes Brian Chappatta. This could be as low as they get. It's gonna be hard to get people to sign up for HBO Max if they have no idea what they're getting, writes Tara Lachapelle. Further Reading Not even Carl Icahn could save Hertz from the mountain of debt it had piled up, writes Chris Bryant. Cliff Asness and Nassim Taleb are fighting about tail-risk hedging. One seems more believable. — Aaron Brown Colleges will have to cut prices for what will be a mostly online experience. Otherwise kids may rethink the whole college thing. — Cathy O'Neil Jared Kushner can't win his fight to shrink the GOP's platform down to a postcard. — Jonathan Bernstein The Democrats are increasingly the party of the upper middle class. — Ramesh Ponnuru We'll probably get more than one coronavirus vaccine. — Faye Flam ICYMI Hospital staff with Covid-19 developed protective antibodies in a study. China's "bat woman" warned of many more pandemics. A Joe Scarborough aide's widower asked Twitter to delete some Trump tweets. Kominers's Conundrums Hint If you're stuck on this week's coin-weighing puzzle, remember: You don't necessarily have to use all the stacks in each weighing, or weigh all the coins from a given stack at once. — Scott Duke Kominers Kickers Guy who built a glitter bomb for package thieves builds an obstacle course for squirrels. Grad student solves decades-old knot problem. (h/t Alistair Lowe for the first two kickers) Coronavirus makes a third date last 60 days. (h/t Scott Kominers) Absurdity can help your mind deal with reality. Note: Please send squirrel obstacles and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. Sign up here and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.   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 Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022