| Plus: Trump is no China hawk | |
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| Welcome to the weekend! When thieves robbed the Louvre on Oct. 19, they made off with a treasure trove of jewels. Which room did they steal from? Find out with this week’s Pointed quiz. Speaking of ambitious plans, tune in to the latest episode of The Mishal Husain Show to hear Reform UK leader Nigel Farage lay out his plan for winning the next election (well before it’s due in 2029). Train your brain with today’s Alphadots, and don’t miss tomorrow’s Forecast on Sora’s social network. For unlimited access to Bloomberg.com, please subscribe. | |
Living Up to Expectations | |
| Something remarkable is happening in UK politics. Reform UK — a party with just five MPs — has been leading voting-intention polls for months. At its center is Nigel Farage, a Brexit crusader and one of Britain’s most polarizing figures. Farage believes the next election will come sooner than 2029, a development that would test his party’s ability to build a credible team, broaden its appeal beyond immigration and deliver on promises like tax cuts. “It’s about a buzz. It’s about a vibe,” he tells Mishal Husain when pressed for policy details. “It’s about how a country feels.” | |
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| Populist bravado often looks different in power. Just ask Donald Trump, who has long cast himself as ready and willing to put America First by upending the US’s relationship with China. In reality, there’s little more misunderstood about the president than his “tough on China” brand, Shawn Donnan writes. Trump may have unleashed the China hawks in his first term, but he isn’t one himself — a paradox that’s left many of Washington’s true hawks feeling sidelined or keeping quiet to stay in the president’s good graces. | |
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| The US-China rivalry has entered the final frontier, with both nations racing to the moon. The US plan leans heavily on the private sector: SpaceX’s success has bolstered the idea that companies can do the job better, a cornerstone of Trump’s case for cutting funding to NASA and other federal agencies. But SpaceX’s success was built on decades of government research reborn in private hands, Tim Fernholz writes. Ignoring that reality risks starving the next generation of tech founders of the seed corn they’ll need to grow. | |
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| Sometimes leaders make promises they can’t keep — and sometimes they don’t make the ones constituents wish they would. When Sanae Takaichi became Japan’s first female prime minister this week, it marked a breakthrough in a country that ranks low on gender equality. But Takaichi is an anomaly, Isabel Reynolds writes. Women in Japan still face steep barriers to political and corporate leadership, and there’s little sign the conservative, who vowed to “cast aside work-life balance,” plans to change that. | |
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| Japan
When McDonald’s launched a Happy Meal promotion in Japan bundling a Pokémon toy with two exclusive trading cards, it set off a frenzy. Resellers snapped up meals for the toys — which could fetch 100 times more in China — and trashed the food. The ensuing backlash showed how fast consumer anger can tip into xenophobia in a country where immigration, overtourism and a cost-of-living crunch are stoking hostility toward foreigners.  Photographer: Toru Hanai/Bloomberg United States
Most restaurants that lose money do so by accident. In New York City’s East Village, food writer Mark Bittman opened one that’s doing it on purpose. The nonprofit Community Kitchen lets diners choose between three prices for the same nine-course tasting menu: $125 (market), $45 (cost) or $15. It pays staff more than $32 an hour and serves locally sourced meals from racially diverse farmers. The experiment is part of a growing movement for public restaurants that prioritize community.  Photographer: Melissa Hom | |
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| Europe never recovered from the fall of the Berlin Wall. Since the high point of 1989, the continent has lost its way on defense, energy, industry, money and social cohesion — leaving it vulnerable to Trump and Vladimir Putin. The fear of debasement matters more than debasement. Gold’s surge and rising debt fears have revived a seductive story: Empires fall when currencies weaken. Whether the dollar’s in trouble or not, that narrative can move markets. Courtiers always lose. America’s CEOs may win contracts or policy breaks by flattering Trump, but history shows that bending the knee weakens institutions and turns business leaders into servants of power rather than shapers of it. | |
Chainsaw Chagrin | | “Disappointed people leave a traditional party and go check out a third party, then they return.” | | Luis Costa Political consultant, Buenos Aires | | Two years after Javier Milei promised to slash the state and save Argentina’s economy, many of his voters feel betrayed. Inflation has plunged, but so have wages and jobs. Foreign investment is stalling and small businesses are collapsing. With midterms looming, Milei now faces the potential return of the Peronists he vowed to vanquish. | | |
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