| This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, an essential basket of Bloomberg Opinion's opinions. Sign up here. Today's AgendaThe Year Retail Went BoomThese are strange times, but every now and then we get a reminder of just how quickly and deeply bizarre American life became in March and April, the earliest days of the pandemic here. At one point, toilet paper, the most taken-for-granted and literal household essential, was practically nowhere to be found. It's easy to forget those despairing moments encountering an empty store shelf meant for toilet tissue when, lately, the only item that's that hard to find is a PlayStation 5.  As we raced Supermarket Sweep-style through Costco naively searching for rolls of the stuff — surely no one has checked that corner yet — our addled shopping habits began turning plenty of other industries topsy-turvy. With 10 eye-opening charts, Sarah Halzack counts the ways: Sales of edible seeds were crushed because of canceled baseball games, while barbecue sauce suddenly fetched a pandemic premium. And aside from restaurant food, do you know what else consumers almost never indulge in at home? Chewing gum; those sales plunged, too. Because of social distancing, we went from doing things to having things. For that reason, Americans decided that clothes — real clothes, not the jogging outfits euphemistically labeled "athleisure wear" — just weren't necessary anymore either. Sarah writes that the biggest challenge for retailers, grocers and consumer-goods manufacturers in 2021 is figuring out which of this year's oddities will endure and for how long. Have they tried darts?  Add Crystal Balls to the Yard SaleIn fact, next trash day, maybe retailers and everyone else should round up their predictions and toss them out. They won't do you any good in the new year — and have they ever? Maybe someone out there correctly guessed that the S&P 500 index would clamber up 15% in 2020, but how many predicted it would be due to a public-health crisis that would shut down large swaths of the global economy and perpetually play out as opposite day on the stock market? Very long-term predictions are easier to make — such as Warren Buffett's lifelong bet on the U.S. economy at large — as are forecasts that only require us to squint one or two months into the future, Jared Dillian writes. To gauge markets next year, the best we can do is look at trends that probably aren't changing soon, such as the Federal Reserve's commitment to buying up bonds and keeping rates low, and the expanding club of people poked with a Covid-19 vaccine shot, he writes. Another factor that's sure to remain? Surprises that make analysts open their spreadsheets and hit CTRL + A and then the delete key. A New Year's Resolution for GovernmentWe can't predict what's next, but we can learn from what's already happened. Faye Flam interviewed a number of public-health experts on what they wish they knew sooner about controlling the coronavirus. The biggest takeaways were that lockdowns should've been more tactical and that testing has been too slow to be useful. By shutting down places that hadn't yet been hit by the virus, residents and business owners were left alienated and distrustful of government directives, Faye writes. And because Covid test results still take days to get, positive persons may not know until after they're most contagious, while those whose tests came back negative may be cavalier thinking they're still in the clear. Further learning-from-mistakes reading: California government leaders can't keep antagonizing businesses and expect Silicon Valley to remain the world's tech hub. — Bloomberg's editorial board Bonus hindsight reading: Not everything went wrong in 2020 — not even in politics. Despite all the obstacles, the U.S. election had the highest voter turnout in more than a century, and officeholders of both parties became more diverse. — Jonathan Bernstein Just Send the ChecksYesterday, this newsletter talked about why it wouldn't necessarily be better to replace the $600 relief checks Americans are set to receive from the latest stimulus package with $2,000 checks that Democratic lawmakers and President Trump are pushing for instead. Lawrence H. Summers wrote that doing so could overheat the economy and that more targeted pandemic relief is what's needed. But 78% of Americans support the $2,000 payments, and Congress should just give people what they want, Conor Sen writes in a new column. The larger checks may bring back hope to people who need it, and if some of the money goes to those who don't, so be it. The positives outweigh the negatives, he writes. Telltale ChartsQuantumScape Corp.'s SPAC-to-riches story involves Stanford University scientists, electric vehicles and — squints — virtually no revenue, which is why its roughly $40 billion valuation may not hold up, Chris Bryant writes.  Further ReadingThe expat lifestyle has lost some of its allure, leaving globetrotters to reassess the meaning of "home." — Anjani Trivedi For American manufacturers to leave China, they have to be enticed, not bullied. — Michael Schuman Maybe Jack Ma should convert Ant Group Co. into a bank holding company. It worked for Goldman Sachs Group Inc. — Anjani Trivedi Cryptocurrency can't be an unregulated, fringe asset if it wants to go mainstream. — Tyler Cowen Nokia Oyj needs to step up its 5G work for the U.S. and Europe to compete with China and Huawei. — Alex Webb ICYMIIvy League schools and other universities aren't admitting new Ph.D. students next fall. Covid-19 exposed U.S. inequality and made it even worse. Employee bonuses will be flat at some Wall Street banks. Boeing's 737 Max plane is back flying again. Kominers's Conundrums HintIf you're having trouble with our crossword-like Home Alone Conundrum, we'll fill in a couple of clues to help you out: - Our hero's garden gambit makes use of ZUCCHINI;
- The wrapped present spews GLITTER, taking a page out of Mark Rober's book;
- And the crook with a calling card is LUPIN (technically, Lupin the Third), star of a manga series by the same name.
Then once you've identified all of the characters, remember: To figure out who their ringleader is, you have to put them into the second grid in succession. — Scott Duke Kominers KickersIt's not 1995, but the Brexit trade deal mentions Netscape Communicator. Snowsuits are suitable dining attire for a pandemic winter. Pierre Cardin, who pioneered 1960s space-age fashion, dies at 98. Note: Please send barbecue sauce and complaints to Tara Lachapelle at tlachapelle@bloomberg.net. Sign up here and follow us on Twitter and Facebook. | 
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