Monday, September 16
Is Beijing the New Davos? (Axios)
Amid Donald Trump’s trade war with China, billionaire and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is putting on a major global economic event this November — in Beijing.
The big picture: Bloomberg’s New Economy Forum, Nov. 20–22, in partnership with the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, will draw about 500 business and technology leaders, academics and government officials from dozens of countries.
Read the official press release here.
Mike Bloomberg: Democracy Requires Discomfort (Bloomberg Opinion)
“American politics is broken, and too few people are thinking about how to mend it. Donald Trump’s presidency has aroused strong and often angry passions among both opponents and supporters, but the problem runs much deeper than that. More and more, political rage seems to be crowding out political engagement. And make no mistake: Without engagement, liberal democracy can’t survive,” Mike Bloomberg writes in a Bloomberg Opinion column published over the weekend.
Must Read: Companies Aren’t Putting Trump’s America First (Bloomberg Opinion – Matt Winkler)
Today, after two and a half years of tax cutting, tariff boosting and assaults on globalization, foreign direct investment has fallen the most in almost two decades amid dwindling confidence by business leaders about continued U.S. prosperity.
Since Trump became president in 2017, net foreign direct investment in the U.S. tumbled 28% in his first year and another 25% in 2018, according to World Bank Group data compiled by Bloomberg. The last time the U.S. experienced such a double-digit loss in FDI over the first two years of a presidency was 2001 (-51%) and 2002 (-36%) when George W. Bush occupied the Oval Office.
Oil Jumps the Most Ever After Attack Cuts Saudi Supplies (Bloomberg)
About 5.7 million barrels — 5% of global market — affected. Stockpiles may provide short-term fix as damage is assessed.
Challenge for GM CEO, Mary Barra: GM Faces Losses of $50 Million a Day as Union Digs in for Strike (Bloomberg)
Brexit Update.
Israel Elections.
The Leaders and Parties Competing to Determine Israel’s Future (Bloomberg)
Polls ahead of Israel’s election tomorrow suggest a tight race between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud and former military chief Benny Gantz’s Blue and White. But in Israel’s fractured political landscape, it takes more than a single party to rule, so the real tension will be over who can line up the biggest bloc of parliamentary seats.
Today in Financial News.
Climate Today.
78 Square Miles Torched: California Hit With Biggest Wildfire of 2019 as NASA Warns on Climate Change (Bloomberg)
What’s Behind the Word’s Biggest Climate Victory? Capitalism. (Bloomberg)
This story is part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to highlight climate change. As part of the initiative, Bloomberg will be dedicating a full week of special coverage on climate across its platforms leading up to the United Nations Climate Action Summit on Sept. 23. #CoveringClimateNow
Congratulations.
Bloomberg LP Chairman Peter Grauer Recognized as a Leading Global Advocate for Women in Business (Bloomberg)
For the third year in a row, Bloomberg Chairman Peter Grauer has been recognized as a leading champion of gender diversity. Grauer ranks in the top 10 of the 2019 HERoes Advocate Executives List, which showcases the senior leaders that are creating a more inclusive business environment for women.
Today in Books.
Review: The Many Lives of Michael Bloomberg (The Guardian – U.K.)
At the 2016 Democratic national convention in Philadelphia, Michael Bloomberg, former New York mayor and the ninth richest man in the world, savaged Donald Trump with a primetime verbal beatdown: “Trump says he wants to run the nation like he’s run his business. God help us.” Looking back, Bloomberg got it right.
Bloomberg did some very heavy lifting. He oversaw the rebuilding of the city and its economy after 9/11. Significantly, he reached into his pocket to boost such efforts. In marked contrast to Trump, he did not profiteer from the calamity and his family charity wasn’t a scam filled with “other people’s money”.
Bloomberg also helped forge the city’s anti-terror efforts by relying upon law enforcement, data and a multilingual and multi-ethnic population.
Still, out of office does not mean out of power. In case Trump and the GOP missed it, Bloomberg was the second-largest donor in the 2018 election cycle.
Alongside his determination to fund action to meet the climate crisis, Bloomberg is reportedly ready to spend $500m to ensure that the 45th president lives at the White House for only four years. As Politico framed things: “The sum represents a floor, not a ceiling, on the billionaire’s potential spending to defeat the president in 2020.”
Breaking.
Best of late night.
“A 73-year-old woman in India is now believed to be the oldest person to ever give birth after having twins this weekend. The woman is doing fine, but she’s definitely going to wait a few years for trying for more kids.”
— Seth Meyers
On controversy about Taylor Swift’s lyrics to ‘London Boy‘:
“Taylor Swift is facing criticism from people in the U.K. for her new song ‘London Boy’ which they say does not accurately portray the city, specifically when she sings about eating a bag of fish and fries under Big Bill.”
— Seth Meyers
“A company has started making a new blue rosé. It’s pretty cool, they only use the finest grapes from France’s Listerine region.”
— Jimmy Fallon