| This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, the unchecked power of Bloomberg Opinion's opinions. Sign up here. The Business of Running a Country | Lots of people say you can't run the government like it's a business. That seems fair — it's not the government's purpose to turn a profit! That said, lots of people also say that the government needs to be more efficient. That also seems fair — there are always ways to do things better! That's how we ended up with Elon Musk and something called the Department of Government Efficiency, whose staffers have been busy ordering mass layoffs, shuttering office buildings. slashing software licenses and deactivating credit cards. No word on whether they're conserving paper clips or auctioning off kitchen appliances yet, but don't be shocked if those things appear on Musk's "Wall of Receipts" soon. All of which raises the question: Are they trying to run the government more like a business — or having a going-out-of-business sale? President Donald Trump says he inherited a sky-high trade deficit and federal bloat, so he has a strong incentive for making the government both more efficient and more responsive. Instead, Adrian Wooldridge says, Trump's agenda is "a blueprint for disrupting American capitalism." Take congestion pricing in the Big Apple, which the Trump administration is vehemently against. In a free-to-read column, Mike Bloomberg — who was New York City's mayor for more than a decade (and also signs my paycheck) — writes: "I understand the arguments against congestion pricing. I've been hearing them for nearly 20 years, ever since our administration first proposed it back in 2007. No one likes to pay more. But here's the truth of the matter: Congestion pricing is good for New York's — and the whole nation's — economy. And that's something a businessman and native New Yorker like Donald Trump should appreciate." The math alone is compelling: "The congestion charge generated nearly $50 million over its first month, which is in line with estimates that it will raise about $600 million annually. Just imagine if it had been raising that money since 2007," Mike writes. Who knows what my morning commute would look like if the MTA had an extra $10 billion to toss around! Subway operators wouldn't still be using paper maps and signal systems from the 1930s, that's for sure. You know what else isn't good for business? Hiring a billionaire underling with major conflicts of interest. Thomas Black says Musk wants SpaceX's satellite broadband product, Starlink, to fix the FAA. But there's no quick fix, and that $2.4 billion contract was already awarded to Verizon. For those who oppose the Tesla founder-turned-MAGA man, "it's only more evidence of what they view as his corruption," Thomas writes. "If this sounds hyperbolic to Musk fans, think of the power that DOGE is now wielding and then substitute the name George Soros as its leader. No one should support unchecked power." Adrian agrees: "Has a more oligarch-friendly figure ever inhabited the White House? Teddy Roosevelt did not have Rockefeller in the Oval Office swinging a chainsaw or hoisting John D. III on his shoulders." Elsewhere in unchecked power, you have Trump turning tariffs on and off like a light switch. After chatting on the phone — as Trump so often does — with Mexico's president and Canada's prime minister, he granted both countries a monthlong exemption on USMCA goods, only adding to the will-he-or-won't-he trade war confusion that's persisted for weeks. Here's hoping he puts an end to the madness soon: Virtually every economist — including Tyler Cowen! — has long come to the conclusion that higher tariffs do not improve the trade balance. "In fact, global data show that countries with higher tariffs actually have higher trade deficits," he writes. Travel Budget? What Travel Budget? | In Shuli Ren's column today, she says young people in China are undergoing a cultural shift: "Unlike their parents, the lie-flat generation grew up with plenty of goods. Instead of getting another Gucci bag, they want to travel, attend concerts and experience life." This sentiment, I believe, is global. If I had a dollar for every Instagram Story I've seen asking for Japan or Iceland or Italy hotel/restaurant/shopping recs, I wouldn't need to write this newsletter for a living. And statistics bear that out: 2024 was a great year for airlines and travel budgets keep getting bigger. A record 3.7 million tourists traveled to Japan in January alone and millions more are expected to visit by the end of the decade. It's no wonder why: A trip to Tokyo is relatively cheap for foreigners. But Japan's "unstoppable surge of tourists" stands in stark contrast to the experience of locals, who face one of the world's higher tax burdens. That disconnect gave Gearoid Reidy an idea: What if Japan could plug its revenue hole by charging tourists more? "Authorities would need to levy around $850 a person to make it work," he writes. Although Gearoid calls that goal "a stretch," $850 sounds perfectly reasonable considering people are willing to drop more than $150,000 on a round-trip ticket to see the Milky Way. Adam Minter says space tourism could be a multibillion-dollar business by the end of the decade. Katy Perry's all-female trip to space this spring is the perfect marketing opportunity for Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin. But more than that, it's an opportunity to learn more about the tolls that space may have on a woman's body: "Since the vast majority of astronauts have been men, the specific health risks women face while exploring the final frontier remain largely unknown," Adam writes. "If half of the potential passengers don't know the health risks, they may simply decline to buy tickets." Obviously Blue Origin won't get all the answers, but Adam says "the company deserves praise for its willingness to aggressively grow the number of female astronauts." See you in space, I guess! | 
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