Weekend Edition: History doesn’t repe at but often rhymes

Welcome to the weekend! This is your guide to Bloomberg’s Weekend Edition: essays, reviews and stories at the intersection of finance, life and culture.

Odds are on everyone’s mind. Trump’s and Harris’s odds in the US election, sure, but also the 10-20% chance that AI “goes bad” — as Elon Musk put it at Saudi Arabia’s FII summit — and the odds of more conflict in the Middle East. The market seems unbothered, so we asked Bloomberg economist Tom Orlik to tell us what investors are thinking. Then we sat back and enjoyed Bloomberg’s most-read story: How a Mumbai Drugmaker Is Helping Putin Get Nvidia Chips.

You can enjoy every bit of the Weekend Edition online or in the Bloomberg app, which also has a companion playlist to listen to while you do weekend things. Tell us what you think! And speaking of odds, next week we’ll be adding a Sunday newsletter called The Forecast, full of predictions and FYIs on the week (and century) ahead.

After Tuesday, we may know whether Donald Trump gets a second term. But no matter who wins, Trumpism isn’t going anywhere. It never has, argues Bloomberg Opinion’s Timothy O’Brien. From the 1798 Alien and Sedition Acts to the Know Nothing movement of the mid-19th century and the Populist moment that followed, this particular political recipe has always been part of the American fabric.

One Trump supporter who’s looking ahead is Joe Lonsdale. Three years ago, the venture capitalist co-founded a university to educate a new generation of conservative thinkers — whom Lonsdale hopes might remake the legislative and executive branches. In a conversation at his Texas ranch, the 42-year-old decried government waste and said virtue signaling is a catalyst of societal decline.

Virtue. Many philosophers have written about it, but few are more associated with the idea than Aristotle, for whom virtues are acquired by doing. We have to do them to be them — for example, acting kindly until we are reliably kind. Sabrina Little, a philosophy professor and champion ultrarunner, says sports can be helpful for forming virtues. Our character is implicated in how we train.

Shenzhen
In a cavernous multi-story mall, customers peruse rows of glass display cabinets chock full of bracelets, rings, necklaces and other finely crafted treasures. This is Shuibei, a former fishing village in southern China that’s become the epicenter of the nation’s voracious appetite for gold. More than 10,000 businesses are clustered across several city blocks, and the items on display are an increasingly important store of value amid China’s stock market volatility and the freefall of its property sector.

What we’re stressing: threats against US election workers. With only days to go, officials are deploying fresh tactics under tight new security, including bullet-resistant glass, lockdown magnets and panic buttons.

What we’re trying: to solve a Rubik’s cube behind our back. Jen Easterly, director of the US Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, can do it. It might be easier than her day job protecting election infrastructure.

What we’re obsessing over: milk prices. So is the middle class in Karachi, Pakistan, where milk is now more expensive than in Paris. It’s one of many cost-of-living hurdles pushing skilled workers to leave.

What we’re saving up for: more milk. Under Trump’s deportation plan, US food prices would likely go up. One group estimates there are 245,000 undocumented immigrants in US agriculture and 1 million in hospitality.

What we’re asking ChatGPT about: Taiwan. The island is central to crafting the hardware behind artificial intelligence, but there are risks to locating an entire tech ecosystem in China’s tiny neighbor.

What we’re drinking: Indian single-malt whiskey. As India’s whiskey consumption rises alongside its growing affluence, distilleries are turning out high-quality single malts that are winning awards.

What we’re telling our mom we’ll try: Solomon’s Choice. A play on “solo” and “man,” it’s the name for mass blind-dating events hosted by the government of Seongnam, South Korea, to boost the country’s birth rate.

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