Subject: Where economic theory goes to die
From: "Bloomberg View" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 4 Aug 2017 05:12:11 -0400 (EDT)

A daily digest of opinions and analysis

Japan Buries Economists’ Most Cherished Ideas

The country has mountains of debt and a tight job market. So where’s all the inflation you’d expect? Noah Smith says Japan’s experience underscores one central, disturbing truth: Economists really have no idea how inflation works.

Don’t Bet Against the German Car Industry

Could the BMW become the next BlackBerry? After the debut of the Tesla 3, some predict German cars will be the next high-end product to be made obsolete overnight. But Leonid Bershidsky argues the industry is too agile (and too important to Germans) to get steamrolled by Silicon Valley.

How Trump’s Dow Records Stack Up

Maybe you haven’t noticed (Donald Trump seems a bit worried about the possibility), but U.S. stock markets have been doing pretty well lately. In fact, the Dow has been hitting a record high every four days on average. But is the Trump bump a big deal, or just a historical blip? Justin Fox slices and dices 100 years of data, and finds the numbers really are impressive — with a caveat.

Trump Doesn’t Care If His Proposals Become Law

When the showman president makes an announcement, it’s with great fanfare and little follow-up. For proof, just look to his high-profile ban on transgender soldiers: More than a week has passed, nobody seems to know how (or if) the change will go into effect. Timothy L. O’Brien expects more of the same with other hot-button issues, since Trump’s real goal has nothing to do with policy.

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Ritholtz’s Reads

An honest business news update (Collaborative Fund)

Here’s how unicorns trick you into thinking they’re real (Bloomberg)

Some pretty cool science is going to happen during the eclipse (FiveThirtyEight)

(Read Barry Ritholtz’s full daily news roundup here.)

Bloomberg Gadfly

Mazda makes a right turn

Spire’s ADHD spinoff idea is shaky

Viacom’s recovery is not just a special effect

(Read more from BV’s sister site for fast business commentary.)

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