Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - Kicking the Russian energy habit

Bloomberg Weekend Reading


Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has forced countries to quickly recalibrate their reliance on Russian energy. The European Union will receive an infusion of natural gas from the U.S. to speed its move away from Russian supplies. India, however, has stepped up purchases of Russian crude. The relationship between Beijing and Moscow has become more complicated, but experts doubt there will be a rupture in the flow of oil and coal. Energy is just one example of how Russia’s war on Ukraine “could mark a lasting change in the way the world economy works,” John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge write in Bloomberg Opinion, unless the West is wise enough to remake the global order.

What you’ll want to read this weekend
 

The war has hammered the Russian economy, which may lose 15 years of gains. The Kremlin’s offensive remains stalled one month into the conflict, and the U.S. and NATO say they are preparing for the possibility that Vladimir Putin will use biological, chemical or nuclear weapons to break the stalemate. He is “capable of anything,” Andreas Kluth writes in Bloomberg Opinion. “NATO, and especially the U.S., must now prepare for harrowing decisions after a Russian first strike.” 

Global supply chains, upended by the coronavirus, are facing another round of complications. The container ship backlog at U.S. West Coast ports has started clearing, but logjams triggered by lockdowns in China will delay goods heading to the U.S. Now add Russia’s war on Ukraine: More than one million containers set to make a 6,000-mile journey on a railway linking Western Europe to eastern China via Russia must now find new routes by sea or air.

The Port of Long Beach in California  Photographer: Allison Zaucha/Bloomberg

China’s stringent efforts to squash every outbreak of Covid-19 threaten to derail its ambitious growth target of about 5.5% this year. Hong Kong, hit by one of the deadliest outbreaks of the pandemic, is facing a decline in business confidence amid the world’s toughest travel and quarantine restrictions. The U.S. meanwhile continues to roll back restrictions as the risk of a new infection wave grows, and airline executives have called on President Joe Biden to end pandemic travel precautions, including the federal mask mandate.

Ketanji Brown Jackson fended off accusations by Republican senators that she was soft on crime during four days of often aggressive questioning during Supreme Court confirmation hearings. But her place as the first Black woman on the nation’s high court looks almost certain after West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat who has regularly sided with the chamber’s 50 Republicans to block Biden’s agenda, said on Friday Jackson had his vote.

Mortgage rates are still racing ahead—so much that Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said he’s having trouble finding a home to buy in Washington. Homes aren’t the only investment to rise in value during the pandemic. Swiss watches are having a resurgence, with some timepieces selling for millions of dollars.

Swatch Group AG, owner of brands like Tissot (above), has seen its U.S. sales double in the past two years. Photographer: Chan Long Hei/Bloomberg

What you’ll need to know next week

What you’ll want to see in Bloomberg Graphics

How the World’s Richest  Drive Global Warming

Tackling the climate crisis has mostly focused on countries that got rich spewing greenhouse gasses and now getting them to cut their emissions. But new evidence suggests that personal wealth does more than national wealth to explain the sources of emissions. That’s because the rich and poor pollute differently, regardless of where they live.

Older messages

Maybe a good sign

Friday, March 25, 2022

Bloomberg Evening Briefing View in browser Bloomberg The US and the European Union will push to boost supplies of liquefied natural gas to European countries by the end of 2022 in a bid to displace

Preparing for the worst

Thursday, March 24, 2022

Bloomberg Evening Briefing View in browser Bloomberg European leaders meeting on Thursday with US President Joe Biden and other NATO members moved forward with plans for more sanctions and increased

NATO’s new battlegroups

Wednesday, March 23, 2022

Bloomberg Evening Briefing View in browser Bloomberg If Vladimir Putin hoped his war on Ukraine would shake up the global order, he was right—but likely not in the way he envisioned. NATO said

New Russian sanctions

Tuesday, March 22, 2022

Bloomberg Evening Briefing View in browser Bloomberg US President Joe Biden and European allies are to meet Thursday in Brussels, where they are expected to announce both new sanctions against Russia

Ten million people

Monday, March 21, 2022

Bloomberg Evening Briefing View in browser Bloomberg Russia's invasion has driven 10 million people—almost one-quarter of Ukraine's population—from their homes, according to the United Nations.

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