Header Ads

The threat of right-wing extremism is growing

January 12, 2021
Bloomberg Opinion Today
Bloomberg

This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a tureen of Bloomberg Opinion's opinions. Sign up here.

Today's Agenda

An ugly tradition.

Photographer: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

Coup Watch: Death Throes or Baby Steps?

The Capitol attack was both clownish and horrifying, giving a planet long subject to tedious American lectures about democracy a chance to guzzle tureens of schadenfreude.

And yet the republic still stands, notes Mihir Sharma. President Donald Trump did not install himself as dictator-for-life and is instead zipping around like a deflating balloon, rapidly spewing power. America's institutions are damaged but still standing, in a way that is almost, gulp, exceptional? 

Niall Ferguson suggests it's no coincidence all this political upheaval is happening in a pandemic. History is full of similar examples. Just as the pandemic will eventually end, Wednesday's disaster may mark the death throes of Trumpism. 

Then again, the FBI warns armed protests are planned for the U.S. Capitol and its 50 state counterparts between now and Inauguration Day. American right-wing extremism didn't spring fully formed from Trump's skull; it's been around for a long time, Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tells Romesh Ratnesar. That's why it's so bizarre law enforcement wasn't better prepared for Wednesday's attack. And it will keep being a problem for President-elect Joe Biden.

Further End-of-America Reading: Maybe you should turn your kids into doomsday preppers. — Cathy O'Neil 

Impeachment Watch: Guess the Day Challenge

Biden's first days in the White House will be haunted by the ghost of the previous occupant, in the form of another impeachment. Democrats today dropped their new article, which was brief and to the point: Trump incited the Capitol attack and should be removed and disqualified from holding "any office of honor, trust, or profit" in the U.S. government ever again. The removal part is probably moot: The Senate likely won't finish its trial until after Inauguration Day, by which point Trump will either be gone or have installed himself as dictator-for-life, which would be a different kind of problem. 

Assuming the latter doesn't happen, impeaching Trump will still make sense after he's gone, writes Jonathan Bernstein. Delaying a trial could help Biden quickly address the emergencies of the pandemic and recession. Meanwhile, maybe Democrats can slowly gather Republican support for barring Trump from future office, while a longer trial might provide a fuller exploration of the Capitol debacle. 

And long after Trump's gone, the many, many Republicans who enabled or joined his incitement to violence will still be around, notes Tim O'Brien. They've been furiously trying to memory-hole their culpability, but we can't let them.

Further Trump-Trouble Reading: 

Twitter Vs. Trump

One big blow to Trump's power came this weekend, when Twitter permanently suspended him, which is sort of like depriving Bob Ross of paint. It was the right move, though it probably should have come five years earlier. Losing its best-known super-user will weaken Twitter's already shaky business model, Tae Kim writes, at a time when it's already lagging other social media giants. 

Leonid Bershidsky argues that tech companies deplatforming Trump and his supporters sets a bad precedent for authoritarian regimes looking to quiet dissent. It would help if Big Tech had uniform standards it applied evenly, which hasn't exactly been the case so far. Repealing their Section 230 legal protections for the content they publish, as Trump has demanded, could force them to be more consistent, writes Joe Nocera. Ironically, it would also make them far quicker to zap Trump's posts.

Further Twitter-Ban Reading: Is it securities fraud? — Matt Levine

Bubble Quest: The Tesla Sanction 

Pop quiz time! Which company had an 800% one-year gain at the height of its market mania?

  1. Pets.com
  2. Theglobe.com
  3. Ask Jeeves
  4. Tesla

If you answered "Tesla," congratulations: You win free stock in Boo.com. Sorry, but this is ridiculous! Electric cars are great and the future and all that, but 800%? In one year? John Authers has seen enough and is ready to declare this a sign that not only is Tesla stock out of control, but much of the rest of the stock market is, too.

There are still a few Tesla bears in the wild, but they face extinction because of the whole 800% thing. Chris Bryant encourages them to keep holding on, because otherwise the bubble could really get out of control.

The ridiculous inflation of Tesla, Bitcoin and other assets may even have caused some Fed speakers to talk prematurely of tapering bond purchases last week, writes Brian Chappatta. Yes, the economy's still in trouble, but exploding bubbles won't help.  

Further Markets Reading: Rising Treasury yields could become a problem for the Fed. — Mohamed El-Erian 

The Biden Administration's First Job

In a famous "Seinfeld" episode, perpetual loser George Costanza realizes the key to success is simply doing the opposite of what his instincts tell him to do. To fight Covid-19, Biden might want to emulate Costanza in a way, by simply doing the opposite of whatever Trump has done. That hasn't been much, and the results have been horrific. National pandemic leadership has been a joke almost from the start, culminating in a slow and bungled vaccine rollout now. Turning this around will be Biden's top priority, and Bloomberg's editorial board writes he can start by doing all the things Trump didn't: Empower scientists, encourage mask-wearing, guide the states — in short, lead. 

Further Biden Administration Reading:

Telltale Charts

It's been a dismal decade, particularly the past three years, for value investors, writes Nir Kaissar.

The U.S. hasn't completely weaned itself from Saudi oil, though it's coming close, writes Julian Lee.

Further Reading

The revolutionary mRNA technology in Covid vaccines could cure cancers next. — Andreas Kluth

Israel's health system is the gold standard for Covid vaccination. But it must inoculate Palestinians, too. — Zev Chafets 

Texas is venting a little too much about how the world sees its methane venting. — Liam Denning 

Russia must do more to lift up its women, who badly lag men in income. — Clara Ferreira Marques 

ICYMI

The Senate gets ready to fight about Biden's stimulus plan.

Covid hospitalizations may be slowing in the Northeast.

Musk speaks, people get the wrong Signal.

Kickers

Bean plants show signs of intention. (h/t Ellen Kominers)

Humans wouldn't be able to contain a superintelligence.

Europe is giving citizens the right to repair their stuff.

A Sardinian doctor wrote the book on social distancing 432 years ago.

Note: Please send bean plants and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net.

Sign up here and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
 

Like Bloomberg Opinion Today? Subscribe to Bloomberg All Access and get much, much more. You'll receive our unmatched global news coverage and two in-depth daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close.

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.
 

Post a Comment

No comments

Subscribe to: Post Comments ( Atom )