| This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, the private aspirations and dreams of Bloomberg Opinion's opinions. Sign up here. When writing literally anything, whether it be a dissertation on Russian literature or a grocery list, you have to assume your audience has a certain level of knowledge. An English professor, for instance, doesn't need a definition for "Gogolesque." Your spouse, on the other (very clueless) hand, has no idea where to find Calabrian chiles in the supermarket, so you spell it out for them: AISLE 9, UNDER THE OLIVE SHELF, NEXT TO THE PIMENTOS … IT'S THE JAR WITH THE RED LID. MAKE SURE TO GET CRUSHED, NOT WHOLE!!!!! Which brings me to the topic at hand. Since you're someone who reads the Bloomberg Opinion Today newsletter, I'm assuming you know what a Bloomberg Terminal is. If you don't, that's my mistake. You can check out this Wikipedia page or this YouTube video or, if you're in the mood for a lengthier education, there's an entire book about it. But if you're too lazy to do any of that, this tweet pretty much sums up all you need to know: In addition to IB (that's Instant Bloomberg, for the uninitiated), the Terminal has functions for all sorts of things. There's DINE <GO>, FLY <GO>, QUIZ <GO>, the list goes on. My new favorite is CHLL <GO>, which is a deep breathing tool that tells you when to inhale and exhale. It's great, because now I actually have an excuse when my boss catches me staring blankly into the abyss. But really, burnout is real. And nobody knows that better than Karishma Vaswani, our columnist in Singapore. In her latest free read, she says the city-state is one of the most competitive, overworked and stressed-out societies on the planet. "There is a silent epidemic of depression and mental health hiding just under the surface as citizens struggle to balance work, life, family, and their own private aspirations and dreams," she writes. Sometimes, the stress of having to hear a Slack notification in your sleep is not worth all the effort. That's how 31-year-old retiree Ashish Xiangyi Kumar feels, at least. Despite being Singapore's top Indian student in 2004 and graduating second in his class with a law degree from Cambridge, he decided to leave his high-paying government job at a young age. Ashish's realization — that life is about more than just good grades, the right job and the amount of money in the bank — was wise, albeit unorthodox. Karishma says "his decision to retire at such a young age has prompted scores of Singaporeans to marvel at the path he has taken." Elsewhere inunconventional career paths is HSBC CEO Noel Quinn, who decided to quit his job today while he's still ahead. During the first quarter earnings call, Paul J. Davies says the British bank chief made the surprise announcement that he's stepping down this year to find "a bit more balance in life." Of course, the money doesn't hurt, either: Up until last year, he was one of the lowest paid banking CEOs in the world. But then his long-term incentive award vested in December, which doubled his pay to a satisfactory $13.3 million. Plenty of money to breathe easy, even without the aid of a Bloomberg Terminal. If deep breathing exercises aren't working for you, there's always Mexico City: Juan Pablo Spinetto says digital nomads looking to escape the hustle and bustle of corporate America often "take advantage of tourist visas to work from Mexico for up to six months and many extend that stay by simply leaving and coming back, while renting their own apartments at home to fund the adventure." This obviously annoys locals to no end. Now, you can't walk a few steps in Condesa, Roma or Juárez without hearing snippets of English. "Restaurants have upgraded to cater to more demanding foodies with higher purchasing power. Bars and nightclubs offer hip options and Soho House just opened a chic, baroque mansion in Juárez. And the rent that was so cheap a few years ago has risen to price out not only locals but foreigners too," he writes. But telling Californians to go home to their Erewhon smoothies and scooped bagels won't solve Mexico City's problems. Gentrification may feel like a big deal, but JP says "the reality is that issues such as water shortages, pollution, lack of social housing, deficient public transportation and extremely long commuting distances for workers are much bigger problems for chilangos, as natives are called." Still, if you're interested in visiting Mexico City, JP has some advice: "Please, please, don't ever wear flip flops in Condesa — this is not Cancún!" And if you want a more authentic experience, get out of the prominent areas and try learning a bit of the language. You can start by reading his entire column en español. Did you know L'Occitane owns Sol de Janeiro?! I didn't until I read this Andrea Felsted piece about owner Reinold Geiger's $6.4 billion bid to take the company private. To even the most casual observers, it sounds like he's lowballing it. "Geiger obviously doesn't want to pay more than he has to, given worries about a sector slowdown," Andrea explains. But unlike L'Occitane, whose products often grace the counters of upscale hotel bathrooms, Sol de Janeiro is a hot property because of its TikTok-famous Brazilian Bum Bum Cream. Before you laugh at the name of that product, I'd suggest you check your AmEx bill — your Gen Z daughter probably owns tubs of the stuff. "Sol de Janeiro was founded in the US, and there is scope to expand it further in Europe and in Asia," Andrea says. Given the success of the brand, shareholders shouldn't have to hold their nose and swallow a less-than-ideal price. In less than 24 hours, the monetary policy gods will meet to decide our fate, and it's not looking like they're gonna announce rate cuts anytime soon. In addition to sticky core inflation, energy prices and a strong(ish) stock market, Jonathan Levin says "compensation costs for civilian workers rose 1.2% in the first quarter from the previous three months, exceeding all economist projections." Now, maybe you're thinking: Shouldn't getting a raise be… good? "It's always strange to talk about wage increases as a bad thing — and they're not," he notes — "but in a world in which Fed policymakers were already on edge about stalling disinflation, they're clearly not great for the near-term interest rate outlook." If you want to find out what will happen, tune in to our livestream tomorrow as Jonathan reacts live to the decision with economist Claudia Sahm and Morning Consult chief economist John Leer. Biden's "place-based" policies are good, not good enough. — Bloomberg's editorial board The Fed's quantitative easing program was way too expensive. — Bill Dudley Tesla needs to pool expertise with rivals in order to keep pace. — David Fickling A cease-fire deal is more realistic than eliminating Hamas. — Marc Champion Brands should stop funding anti-doping efforts in sports. — Adam Miner The UK's capital gains tax is ineffective and drives up rents. — Stuart Trow This Microsoft deal is just one step in the race to realize AI's potential. — Yousef Al Otaiba Biden's climate victories have gained little traction in public opinion. — Mark Gongloff Trump's plans for the Fed make zero sense, even for him. — Tyler Cowen Binance's founder got four months in prison. Tyson Foods is a toxic polluter. The cringiest interview of the week. Dave & Buster's lets you bet on arcade games. It's possible to find a cheap EV. Jet black foundation is offensive. Daniel Radcliffe outran Harry Potter. How to forage for ant eggs in a Thai forest. Chinese-backed streaming apps make millions. Barbra Streisand apologized for her Ozempic comment. Notes: Please send your foraged ant eggs and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net. Sign up here and follow us on Threads, TikTok, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. |
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