Share the View 2: Big Tobacco's Future

Share The View

THE LATEST OPINIONS FROM BLOOMBERG VIEW

FEBRUARY 20, 2015 bloombergview.com

TRANSPORTATION The Editors: "A political development of actual importance is occurring in Iowa this month: Democrats and Republicans are proposing to increase the state's gas tax. Not only is this a rational way to raise revenue to repair bridges and roads, it's also a sensible response to the federal government's abdication of the task." Read more... EUROPE Mark Whitehouse: "As Europe's high-stakes debt negotiations with Greece reach an impasse, Germany has appea red surprisingly willing to drive the country out of the euro, regardless of the potentially dire repercussions for Italy, Portugal, Spain and the entire currency union. One possible explanation for Germany's brinkmanship: Its banks have a lot less to lose than they once did." Read more... Mark Gilbert: "Germany's peers need to remind Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble that they, too, have skin in the game." Read more... IMMIGRATION Ramesh Ponnuru: "Immigration is supposed to be a bitterly divisive topic for Republicans. Yet a very narrow range of opinion separates the party's leading presidential candidates, which is unfortunate for the country." Read more... TECH Justin Fox: "The customer is king. A weird sort of king, though -- one whose secrets belong to corporations that buy and sell and sometimes lose them." Read more... MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION Leonid Bershidsky: "If you're making a long-term bet as an investor, there's a lot going for Big Tobacco. It's not just that tobacco boasts the best historical performance of all U.S. industries. The industry's future seems especially bright." Read more... 2016 ELECTIONS Margaret Carlson: "Jeb Bush is asking us to do the impossible -- forget that he's the son of one president and the brother of another." Read more... NEWS ROUNDUP Jonathan Bernstein (Read the news roundup) John Sides at the Monkey Cage talks to Eric Oliver about conspiracy theories and why they're so popular: Read more... Don't miss National Journal's Emily Schultheis on what a "Clinton ally" might be: Read more... Philip Klein is correct that polling on foreign policy and national security has only bad news for Rand Paul's presidential prospects: Read more... Katie Benner (Read the news roundup) The Intercept says that American and British spies stole the encryption keys from the world's largest maker of SIM cards: Read more... Silicon Valley's male-dominated culture is on trial in the Ellen Pao-Kleiner Perkins case: Read more... Why some problems have been too gross to solve: Read more... Barry Ritholtz (Read the news roundup) In letter to associates, Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon announces higher pay: Read more... Revealed: The experts Apple hired to build an electric car: Read more... Why Nasdaq in 2015 is not the same as Nasdaq in 2000: Read more...