Share the View: Swiss Franc Shock

Share The View

THE LATEST OPINIONS FROM BLOOMBERG VIEW

JANUARY 16, 2015 bloombergview.com

EUROPEAN ECONOMY The Editors: "Anyone feeling wrong-footed by the Swiss central bank's surprise decision to stop holding down the price of its currency should consider placing part of the blame elsewhere -- on the abject failure of Europe's leaders to revive their sinking economy." Read more... WOMEN Zara Kessler: "What's keeping women from the top ranks of U.S. business and politics? ... The Pew Research Center released a report on women and leadership, which included some intriguing bits." Read more... LAW Noah Feldman: "The Washington Redskins finished the season well out of the National Football League playoffs -- but the court case involving the trademark on the team's name and logo won't go away." The case "raises a question about the meaning of the First Amendment and its application to racial hate speech -- a topic of global significance after the Charlie Hebdo attack last week in Paris." Read more... CARS Edward Niedermeyer: "With its usual barrage of big trucks, muscle cars, luxury sedans and supercars, the Detroit auto show seems determined to remind attendees that it's still a very good time to be in the traditional auto business. But behind the bravado lurk unmistakable signs that 'business as usual' won't last forever." Read more... ENERGY Leonid Bershidsky: "Cheap oil is a double-edged sword for diversified economies: On one hand, investment drops in the oil and gas sector, hurting jobs and the stock market; on the other hand, consumers and companies that use a lot of hydrocarbons see their costs go down. In the U.S. and in Europe, the two effects will probably cancel each other out -- as they have in the past." Read more... ECONOMICS Barry Ritholtz: "Central bankers, most of them versed in the history of the Great Depression and deflation, haven't been exactly reading from the same hymnal for the past few years. There are signs, though, that this might be changing." Read more... TECH Stephen L. Carter: "Automobiles that operate themselves are all the rage. ... The lapsed geek in me is half in love with driverless cars already, for no better reason than that the idea is so cool; the scholar in me wants to live long enough to see how society will adjust to a world where climbing into your car is like boarding a train, and falling asleep behind the wheel is nothing to be ashamed of." Read more... IMMIGRATION Albert R. Hunt: "Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado, a conservative Republican, warned his former colleagues in the House that they made a mistake by voting to roll back President Barack Obama's executive action shielding millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation." Read more... POLITICS Jonathan Bernstein: "If Barack Obama really cares about an effective federal government, he could do something right now to help his successor, Democrat or Republican: streamline the presidential vetting process for executive-branch jobs." Read more... ENTERTAINMENT Justin Fox: "If this is 'the new golden age of television,' as people keep saying, it is the high-cognitive-demand shows that make it so. Look at the Nielsen ratings, though, and the cognitive profile changes pretty dramatically." Read more... GAMBLING James McManus: "Texas Hold'em tables often serve as less-genteel clubs for blue-chip businessmen. ... The quantitative and psychological acumen required by their day jobs also serve them well when a tight player check-raises them $2.50 or $25,000." Read more...