Share the View 2: Cuba and Capitalism

Share The View

THE LATEST OPINIONS FROM BLOOMBERG VIEW

JANUARY 21, 2015 bloombergview.com

LATIN AMERICA The Editors: "A U.S. delegation heads to Havana today to start negotiations on the normalization of ties with Cuba. Don't expect immediate progress. Despite President Barack Obama's bold shift in U.S. policy, the earliest President Raul Castro is likely to embrace democracy or capitalism is in the afterlife." Read more... Check out the QuickTake on the Cuba-U.S. reboot: Read more... SPACE Adam Minter: "After Tuesday night's State of the Union address, most Americans know two things about Scott Kelly. First, he's going to space for a year, and second, President Obama wants him to 'Instagram it.' Curiously, Obama didn't mention a more impressive fact: Scott will spend longer in orbit than any other American ever has." Read more... HEALTH-CARE REFORM Megan McArdle: "As Obamacare wends to the end of its second open-enrollment period, it would seem that we should know more about the shape of the final program. What have we learned so far?" Read more... NEWS ROUNDUP Jonathan Bernstein (Read the news roundup) Julia Azari at Mischiefs of Faction writes on "looking presidential" and the SOTU speech: Read more... Lynn Vavreck at the Upshot on why politicians such as Jodi Ernst talk about their difficult personal backgrounds: Read more... Slate's Fred Kaplan liked what he heard about foreign policy in the SOTU but isn't as thrilled with what he's seeing outside of the speeches: Read more... Katie Benner (Read the news roundup) The Justice Department is paying a woman $134,000 to settle a case that involved the Drug Enforcement Agency using her identity and photos -- without her consent -- on Facebook to lure in suspected drug dealers:Read more... Private advertising and marketing companies have been given access to consumer data from Healthcare.gov, the government's health-care website: Read more... Shazam Entertainment, which has an app that recognizes songs, raised $30 million and is now valued at more than $1 billion: Read more... Matt Levine (Read the news roundup) Don't change your ratings criteria to win business: Read more... Activism, but friendly activism: Read more... The Swiss franc fallout continues: Read more... Barry Ritholtz (Read the news roundup) These unloved stocks may beat the S&P 500 again in 2015: Read more... What lost decade?: Read more... The real reason oil prices plunged: Read more... RELIGION Pankaj Mishra: In the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attacks, "anti-immigrant ideologues have managed to resurrect the 'clash of civilizations' discourse. ... If we are to admit how deeply and irrevocably interconnected our world is, then we must find new ways to break the cycle of counter-productive violence." Read more... ECONOMICS Noah Smith: "Bitcoin isn't supposed to be an investment-grade financial asset. It's supposed to be a medium of exchange. Surprisingly few people understand the difference." Read more... Mark Gilbert: "Economic theory suggests that consumer spending should soon be cut off at the knees (or a bit higher). How does that compare with what actually happens in the real world when deflation takes hold?" Read more... CHINA William Pesek: "Soon after the Swiss shocked the world by abandoning their currency's peg to the euro, Hong Kong's Financial Secretary John Tsang hit the airwaves. His very clear message: The city's U.S. dollar peg would hold firm." Read more...