| This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a booster shot of Bloomberg Opinion's opinions. Sign up here. Today's AgendaVaccines Are Not MagicThere's a certain genre of news story that didn't exist before the pandemic but is inescapable now; let's call it the Covid Horror Story. These spread like wildfire and involve pandemic scenarios seemingly designed to keep you clicking and sleepless. AREA MAN CATCHES CORONAVIRUS THREE TIMES or A LIZARD GAVE ME COVID! Often they're not worth the agita. But now Bloomberg Opinion is home to one such story: Mary Duenwald, who once edited this very newsletter, contracted coronavirus more than two weeks after getting both shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which is so top-shelf that some people are turning down other vaccines in favor of it. Yikes, right? How is this possible? Well, Sam Fazeli explains to Mary and us, most vaccines don't actually prevent you from being infected with a disease; they just keep you from getting very sick or dying from it. And sure enough, Mary's case of Covid is very mild. (I believe her immune system was strengthened by months of editing this newsletter but lack the data to confirm that.) It's also possible Mary was infected by one of the many variants flying around, some of which seem more contagious. These make the puzzle of how quickly to reopen economies more difficult, writes Lionel Laurent. They also make it tough for the vaccinated to know how to behave, or for agencies such as the CDC to offer guidance. Ever since modern science started whipping up effective Covid vaccines at record speed, many of us have thought of them as magic elixirs that would simply turn off the pandemic like a switch. But they don't work like that. They're absolutely still worth getting, including even the supposedly less effective ones. Mary's story shouldn't keep you awake at night or keep you from getting vaccinated. But it should inspire you to stay careful a little while longer. Further Vaccine Reading: America's vaccine-hoarding is a bad look if it wants to win global hearts and minds. — Mihir Sharma What Do You Have Against Pork?Once upon a time, lawmakers used to flag chunks of money in spending bills to benefit the folks back home, a practice known as earmarking. Some people called this "pork," which somehow made it seem bad, even though pork is delicious. Sometimes, to be honest, earmarks were used in bad ways, which got them banned. But for the most part, earmarking was good, Bloomberg's editorial board writes, in that it served the folks back home and also made it easier for Congress to cut deals. Democrats plan to bring earmarks back, and they should be encouraged, as long as the earmarking is transparent. In conclusion, pork is delicious. Inflation Watch!The stock market rallied today, even though the February jobs report was much better than expected, which you might think would make everybody freak out about inflation even more than they have lately. But no. And as long as the stock market isn't freaking out, then the Federal Reserve will continue to not freak out about higher interest rates, writes John Authers. Of course, today's calm caps a wild stretch of jumping bond yields and anxious stock markets. This has many recalling the Taper Tantrum of 2013, when a word or two from Ben Bernanke about the possibility of dialing back a smidgen on QE caused markets to collapse on their fainting couches. But Dan Moss explains the world is very different now than in 2013. There's much, much less reason to worry about the Fed surprising anybody at this point, for one thing. Also, you know, pandemic. Still, current Fed Chair Jay Powell is clearly in a jam, writes Mohamed El-Erian. He has to promise to keep helping the economy while also reassuring that it won't get too hot. Telltale ChartsTo be sure, the job market is bouncing back more quickly than expected. But it also still has a long way to go, writes Brian Chappatta.  Chinese luxury shoppers are shopping at home now instead of Europe, note Andrea Felsted and Anjani Trivedi. This is a challenge but also an opportunity for luxury brands.  Further ReadingGoogle is killing cookies, but don't worry: Advertisers still have plenty of innovative ways to track you. — Tim O'Brien The real future of digital currency could be central banks working together. — Andy Mukherjee The U.S. needs a plan to secure rare-earth elements when China controls the market like OPEC. — James Stavridis Here's how Lex Greensill's empire collapsed so rapidly. — Chris Bryant There could be pitfalls for taxpayers in how Congress expands the child tax credit. — Alexis Leondis ICYMIPresident Joe Biden will have to settle a crypto-regulation fight Donald Trump started. Tesla lost $90 billion in market cap this week. Brazil is losing the Covid war. KickersHere's the world's cheapest Michelin-starred meal. (h/t Scott Kominers) Bill Gates-funded startup plans fusion reactor using small superconducting magnets. How much is that NFT art killing the planet? Check with this cryptoart emissions calculator. It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a … hovering supertanker? Notes: Please send Michelin-starred meals and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. Sign up here and follow us on Twitter and Facebook. | 
Post a Comment