| This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a green jobs program of Bloomberg Opinion's opinions. Sign up here. Today's AgendaUnpopular Opinions About JobsIf America has a true universal religion, it is jobs. Most of us have at least one, and we depend on it for money we exchange for food, shelter and NFTs. Jobs determine the fate of presidencies. Every political decision must be vetted by the jobs god. Does it create jobs? Are they good jobs? Are they American jobs? So it's basically sacrilegious to suggest policies that don't create jobs or maybe even destroy them. It's politically deadly for sure. But hear us out: Sometimes this is the better way. Take green jobs. President Joe Biden and others are pushing green-infrastructure spending with the promise it will create jobs, as one does when pushing any plan in America. But this is self-defeating if you think about it, as Tyler Cowen does: Good-paying, American jobs watching turbines turn and solar panels, uh, solar sound great, but they will jack up energy costs. Far better, Tyler suggests, to let the wind and sun work their magic with minimal human guidance, keeping power bills low and making voters happy that way. Then there's the issue of immigration, which — unless you're a white supremacist, in which case you're probably looking for a different newsletter — is actually just the issue of jobs: i.e., other people taking them. Biden is doing some things right to address the latest surge of immigrants at the southern border — mostly, giving their home countries some money from out of his wallet. But that won't be enough to spur the corruption-free economic development those countries really need, writes Noah Smith. A better bet would be encouraging U.S. companies to build factories in Central America, raising living conditions there and giving people less incentive to leave. Because this will involve foreigners taking American jobs from the comfort of their own homes, this may be a political non-starter, too. But it could create jobs in the long run. Amen. This Is Not Your Father's GWOTBiden today announced he will pull troops out of Afghanistan on Sept. 11, two decades after the terror attacks that kicked off a global war on terror that may never end. Eli Lake suggests we can't count on the Afghanistan conflict actually ending, either. He calls Biden's decision a disastrous surrender to the Taliban, restoring Afghanistan as an al-Qaeda haven, meaning troops will have to return to that shell of a nation eventually. The trouble for Biden, as he alluded in his speech explaining the pullout, is that the GWOT is now truly global. Africa is the planet's new incubator of terrorism, writes Hal Brands, with countless small groups getting in plenty of reps to prepare for attacks abroad. The U.S. simply lacks the resources to tackle them all, while also keeping troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, while also confronting China, while also et cetera. Further Mideast Conflict Reading: Israel's Natanz attack was a message to Biden, pushing him to abandon the Iran nuclear deal. — Zev Chafets Bankers Are Having Themselves a MomentWhen is a good time to be a large American bank? The right answer to this is "always," and yes I'm including 2008. But the early months of 2021 are turning out to be especially bank-friendly. As Matt Levine notes, banks do their very best when the economy is good and the markets are bonkers, and both of those things are more or less true now. So Goldman Sachs rode a wild trading quarter all the way to profit nirvana, helped by SPACcitement, notes Brian Chappatta. That particular mania may cool soon, but Goldman will simply turn to another of its many golden-egg-laying geese for more. JPMorgan Chase reported its revenue, profits, return on equity and all-around wonderfulness absolutely soared in the quarter, causing investors to naturally sell the stock, Brian Chappatta writes. As always with numbers like these, one is inclined to ask, "However shall JPMorgan top itself this time?" But like life, JPMorgan, uh, finds a way. It's marginally less wonderful to be a Credit Suisse banker these days, after a string of goofs including Archegos and Greensill and on and on. Many management heads have rolled at the bank, but Elisa Martinuzzi writes its board is culpable and needs some new blood, too. Telltale ChartsTaco Bell's new Times Square outpost is a risky but smart bet on post-pandemic consumer dining habits, writes Sarah Halzack.  The divergent fortunes of Petrobras and Vale show the corrupting influence of political involvement in business goes both ways, writes David Fickling.  Further Reading Bottom-trawling destroys habitats and unlocks carbon. The world must start limiting the damage. — Bloomberg's editorial board Coinbase is big and profitable, meaning it will soon be in all our portfolios, for better or worse. — Nir Kaissar India has an abundance of vaccines, but exports leave it without enough for its massive population. — Aashish Chandorkar Flexible hours could solve the post-pandemic problem of employees wanting to keep the quality-of-life stuff they got WFH. — Chris Hughes Thinking of investing in rental properties? Here are the best cities to look right now. — Alexis Leondis How Bernie Madoff was able to get away with it for such an unthinkably long time. — John Authers ICYMIExperts weigh the efficacy of China's Covid vaccine. Audi's in the electric SUV game. Meet the 23-year-old coder who kept QAnon online. KickersA new gene-editing project targets Alzheimer's. How to read books when you have ADHD. Space junk is hard to remove. Death to manicured lawns. Notes: Please send fertilizer and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. Sign up here and follow us on Twitter and Facebook. | 
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