Tensions Are Growing in the South China Sea

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 had its worst day in nearly two years and the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed over 1,000 points. Shares on Japan’s Nikkei Index fell by over 12% — their worst showing since Black Monday in 1987. Cryptocurrencies dropped, bond yields rose and the VIX, known as the fear index, saw its biggest one-day spike in more than 30 years. Is the Fed to blame? AI over-exuberance? Warren Buffett? On today’s episode, Bloomberg columnist John Authers walks host David Gura through the global market meltdown: what triggered it, how long it could last, and when to panic. Read more:  $6.4 Trillion Stock Wipeout Has Traders Fearing ‘Great Unwind’ Is Just StartingFurther listening: Why the Market’s Big Tailwinds Are Coming to an EndSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

5 Elo 202416min

In April of 2023, a man carrying a small, black box walked into one of the nation’s most secure buildings, right next to the White House. In the box were ingredients that could be used to create a bioweapon. What the man revealed about how he got his hands on these ingredients was even scarier: an AI chatbot had given him the recipe. On today’s Big Take, host David Gura speaks to Bloomberg healthcare reporter Riley Griffin about why that stunt alarmed White House officials and woke them up to the potential dangers of AI-made bioweapons.  Read more: AI-Made Bioweapons Are Washington’s Latest Security Obsession Further listening:  We Can’t Opt Out of AI (But We Can Try) AI Wreaks Havoc on Global Power Systems See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2 Elo 202413min

If you’ve applied to a job and never heard back, you may have fallen prey to a ghost job — an online listing for a role that never actually existed. Ghost jobs aren’t just leaving job seekers frustrated. They’re also muddying the waters of the labor market when it comes to assessing the strength of the economy. On today’s Big Take podcast, Sarah Holder digs into the ghost job phenomenon with Molly Smith, an editor on Bloomberg’s US economy team.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

1 Elo 202416min

Each year in April, the US conducts a lottery that shapes the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. And each year, only around 85,000 are granted an H-1B visa for highly-skilled workers. With skyrocketing application numbers, the odds of winning have only gotten slimmer. But new data obtained by Bloomberg News has revealed how certain companies have manipulated the system, gaining an advantage over people who play it fair. In other words, the game was rigged. On today’s Big Take podcast, host Sarah Holder speaks to investigative journalists Eric Fan and Zachary Mider who explain how outsourcing companies and staffing firms exploited loopholes in the H-1B system to get extra shots at the lottery.  Read more: How Thousands of Middlemen Are Gaming the H-1B ProgramSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

31 Heinä 202417min

Costs are rising in Japan and small businesses risk being squeezed into oblivion if they don’t figure out how to raise their prices. After decades of deflation, many small Japanese companies are out of practice on exactly how to do it. Today on The Big Take Asia, host Rebecca Choong Wilkins talks to Bloomberg senior editor Reed Stevenson about a class he visited where people are relearning the long-lost skill of negotiation, and what a failure to raise prices at these small businesses – which make up 90% of the economy – could mean for Japan’s future.Read more: BOJ to Cut Bond Buying as Fate of Rate Policy Stirs Jitters See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

30 Heinä 202417min

This past weekend, Donald Trump became the first American president to address a crypto conference, telling an audience in Nashville that “if Bitcoin is going to the moon, I want America to be the nation that leads the way.” It’s a stark contrast from five years ago, when Trump said Bitcoin’s value was based on “thin air.” Is his conversion from crypto skeptic to crypto cheerleader real – or just a canny attempt to get donations? On today’s podcast, host David Gura speaks to Bloomberg investigative reporter Zeke Faux about the surprising opinions he heard on-the-ground at the world’s biggest Bitcoin conference – and what that could mean for the future of the 2024 presidential election.Read more: Trump Became Crypto Believer After Falling in Love With NFTs of HimselfSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

29 Heinä 202417min

For most of this year, US markets were hitting fresh highs and investors were giddy about the potential of AI to make the world’s biggest tech companies even more profitable. Then, the picture changed. Welcome to the Great Rotation. On today’s Big Take podcast, host Sarah Holder speaks to Bloomberg cross-asset reporter Isabelle Lee about what’s behind the investor move from the Magnificent Seven tech firms into smaller companies — and what role, if any, recent US political turmoil is playing in investors’ expectations about the rest of the year.  Read more: Markets Tear Up Popular Trades That Reached ‘Stupid Levels’ and Stocks Caught in Tug of War Between Tech and Rest: Markets WrapSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

26 Heinä 202416min

Americans are more and more likely to get health care not from doctors, but from nurse practitioners. It’s one of the fastest-growing professions in the US — and the number of nurse practitioners in the country is expected to climb 45% by 2032. But training for the booming profession has never been standardized, and some students worry they’re not being set up for success. On today’s Big Take podcast, host Sarah Holder talks to investigative reporters Caleb Melby and Polly Mosendz about what the rapid rise of nurse practitioners has meant for their education — and their patients. Read more: The Miseducation of America’s Nurse PractitionersSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

24 Heinä 202417min