♪ yvonne: coming up on "bloomberg best," the stories that have shaped the week in business around the world. politics dominated the headlines, from berlin to paris, to tokyo, to washington, d c >> this is a now or never a moment. >> we are creating a tax plan that encourages you to invest in our country and the future of our country. yvonne: mergers in europe. will they get the right to drive in saudi arabia? and janet yellen speaks and caution is the message. >> she said this is a controversial topic. we do not understand it all and we may have made mistakes. >> italy's finance minister speaks up. >> we are at a turning point. we have turned a corner.

yvonne: and we explain the appeal of trading bitcoin. >> i always tell people i need a story and a chart. yvonne: and exclusive investment insight. >> call me a cynic, but i think there might be a little disappointment ahead of us. yvonne: it is all straight ahead on "bloomberg best." ♪ yvonne: welcome. i'm yvonne man. this is "bloomberg best," a weekly review of the most important business news, analysis and interviews from bloomberg television around the world. it was a momentous week in politics and policy across the globe, starting with a closely watched election in germany. >> angela merkel has won a fourth term as chancellor, but her victory was marred by surging support for the populist party and a clear rebuke to her

open door policy on refugees. main partners now want to be part of the opposition. who will she build a coalition with? >> she has got to build a coalition with the liberals and greens. that is her only choice after the social democrats have said they will no longer participate in the government, but go to the opposition. >> it is untested at the national level, making it more difficult. first of all, you have these two parties you are negotiating with, instead of just one and there are differences between the greens and liberals, so whether they are able to come to a solution and how quickly they can do it remains to be seen. >> it is highly likely that the jamaican coalition talks will be difficult, but they will work out. the least likely of scenarios is germany would go for new elections. that is something that would be prevented in the end, but they probably will not have to do

that. >> from a european perspective, i do not think it is a bad thing to have the greens. i think it gives you a more balanced view around, or greater distribution for angela merkel. the coalition, it will be harder to come to terms with and get established, but once in place i do not think the outcome is bad for europe at all. >> facing certain defeat, senate republican leaders decided not to hold a vote on the gop's latest attempt to repeal and replace the affordable care law. senator lindsey graham will cosponsor the legislation with bill cassidy, and say the fight is not over. >> we are going to get there. to my republican colleagues, we will fulfill our promise to repeal and replace. to the american people, we will improve health care for you, because at the end of the day that is the only thing that matters. >> the message was they will continue to push on health care. they have not given up, but it will not be this week.

do you see room, a path forward for health care given that the three senators that came out against the bill had a very different reason to oppose it? guest: i think the dynamic at play, the reason it was not able to go further now is you have republican senators on very different sides of the issue. you have susan collins, a relative moderate, who wants more money for medicaid and opposes the fundamental changes to medicaid that the vast majority of republicans support, and contrast with the ted cruz who wants far more deregulation and he wants the medicaid reform. i do not see where the two sides reconcile in this discussion. while they say they want to come back to health care, i think it means they want to move onto something else and at some point if something about the dynamic changes, they will revisit it. i just do not see it. >> president trump and republican leaders announcing a tax reform framework promising to cut the individual rate to

35%, and allowing congress to decide whether to create a higher bracket. >> this is a now or never a moment. the choice is really clear. >> what is left for congress to do based on what we have gotten here today? >> it is a tough decision. this is mostly stuff they agree on. the nine page document mostly focuses on lowering tax rates for individuals, including the top rate down to 35%. 25% rate for the pass-through businesses, very steep cut from where they are now. 20% corporate tax rate. these are things they agree on and the relatively easier things to agree on because there are more benefits than taking away, but they must decide which loopholes to close if they want to raise revenue and prevent this from exploding the deficit. president trump: we are going to cut taxes for the middle class, make the tax code simpler and more fair for everyday americans, and we are going to bring back the jobs and wealth that have left our country.

>> the president really very much pushing back against democratic criticism. the statement from democrats piling in throughout the speech, saying this is little more than tax breaks and cuts for the wealthy at the expense of middle and low income americans. the president saying that is not the case, pushing back against saying this is little more than that and framing this is a once in a generation opportunity to unleash american growth. >> president donald trump and republican leaders revealed their tax reform plan yesterday and u.s. stocks going higher into the close, while the dollar closes their three-day rally. gains have been incredible. the biggest weekly gain since november 2016. >> to paraphrase chris rock, i do not want to give too much credit for republicans doing what they were supposed to do. yesterday was an important step. over the next few weeks what will be interesting for us and the markets to gauge, is how fierce opposition will be,

specifically looking at the mortgage industry and the state codebook to have their tax preferences either completely eliminated or materially diluted. >> largely, the reviews from republicans have been positive, they like the corporate tax reduction at 20%, the top rate cuts, and the push back is really coming from the revenue raisers. that is always the case. they tend to be controversial. the big one in this bill is the state and local tax reduction, targeted for elimination. >> do you expect to do this with democrats? >> i believe there will be democrats voted for the bill. we will see the first phase of tax reform start next week under reconciliation. so the question on whether it will get done this year, we will know by next week. >> we think if we are going to get a meaningful bill passed and have staying power, it must be a bipartisan bill. >> there has to be an open process, they cannot do it through what we call

reconciliation where it comes in the dark of night without chances of amendments, etc. yvonne: the dollar rally slowing down today as optimism about tax cuts hit hurdles. something investors cannot be sure they will get tax reform this year. >> i would say i have a better chance of the quarterback for the jets in the super bowl, then i do of the package passing in its entirety and designed. >> the red lines are, the business tax rates both on the corporate entities and pass-through entities cannot go higher than in the initial proposal, and that there has to be a tax cut for hard-working middle income americans. we are willing to work with the tax writers on the other dials we have in the system. >> you must agree, i assume, that this would hurt revenues in the short term. even under the reagan tax plan, they lost over $200 billion in revenue over the first four years. >> we are putting incentives in

place for companies to spend money in the united states, to bring jobs back to the united states, to bring businesses back, and we are allowing them to spin the money but it will cost them money in the beginning, but like every company ever built in this country, you invest upfront to create greater returns over the long-term. we as a country have to make an investment. we have to invest in ourselves. we are creating a tax plan that encourages you to invest in this country and the future of the country. ♪ yvonne: still ahead, as we review the week on "bloomberg best," exclusive insight from jim chanos. and an explanation on why one is bullish on cryptocurrency. plus, inflation baffling central bankers. up next, more of the week's top business stories. it has been a week of controversy for american football and college basketball. >> i think the fbi is doing ncaa's dirty work.

yvonne: this is bloomberg. ♪ ♪

yvonne: this is "bloomberg best." i'm yvonne man. we are continuing our global tour of the top business stories. in japan with a political gamble from the prime minister. ♪ >> politics dominated the economic outlook and outlook for equities in japan. the prime minister shinzo abe is holding a commanding lead in opinion polls. this with his coalition partners. he is seeking an $18 billion economic package, what are the economists saying it will mean for the japanese economy? >> by historical standards, the headline number does not look that big. you may recall a year ago, the government announced a package

worth 28 trillion yen, 14 times as big as this one. however, as always, the key is in the details. in this case, the money will go toward families with small kids to help pay for their education and childcare. we expect to see tax incentives for companies that would encourage wage increases. it is not about building bridges to nowhere, as we saw in years past, but rather about spawning a virtuous cycle of economic expansion. >> the japanese prime minister betting he can crush a weak opposition in next month's election. he plans to dissolve parliament more than one year early, calling the vote a test of confidence on efforts to boost the economy. a big gamble here for the prime minister. >> it is a gamble. and a lot of things that play. there is the opposition, which is in disarray. also, the big 2 trillion yen stimulus package that shinzo abe announced yesterday. he is taking a gamble, but

betting the opposition is in disarray. and that the voting public likes his stance on north korea. ♪ >> the french president has laid out the vision of the eu. he said it offers the bloc real sovereignty to defend their interest and project their values in a globalized world. >> only the eurozone with a strong, international currency can offer europe the framework of an economic world power. >> you look at growth. if you look at the spd in germany, for example, we had the prime minister saying this was a plea against nationalism in europe. it does reflect the split we see in germany and the rest of europe with the rise of nationalism, and with a new kind of spirit between eastern europe and western europe, we have heard from the czech prime

minister who said that with that kind of speech macron made will , lead other countries to follow brexit and want to exit the european union. ♪ >> saudi arabia, we have a new plan to lift a ban on women driving, ending its status as the only country in the world to have such restrictions. the most dramatic move so far in the government's bid to open up the saudi economy. what impact will it have, allowing half the economy to drive must be a pretty interesting experiment? >> absolutely. first and foremost it is about setting the tone. anybody who had doubts about the speed of saudi reforms, including investors if you take a look at valuations, this is the answer. they are serious about reforms and even tackling an issue that has been sensitive and controversial. think along the lines in terms of a more productive labor

force, in terms of perhaps new car purchases, and instead of paying a driver, you keep the money and spend it on other things, so think about consumer confidence. it means going back to the drawing board and almost starting from scratch when you think about investing in the country. ♪ >> a major rift developed over the weekend between donald trump and professional sports when he condemned nfl players who kneeled during the national anthem, expressing disappointment over race relations in the country. the president tweeted, "the issue of kneeling has nothing to do with race, it is about respect for our country, flag and national anthem. nfl must respect this." among his base in particular, in terms of energizing the base and giving them a signal, saying i am still with you. he thinks it is a winner. his administration thinks it is a winner. >> ford motors issuing a statement saying, "we respect individual rights to express their views, even if they are not ones that we share.

that is part of what makes america great." nike emphasizing the importance of free speech. >> you will see most of the nfl sponsors try to stay out of this as much as they can. as you see from the nfl, when you get dragged into the fight with the president, you end up losing no matter what you do and if i am a company like pepsi or anheuser-busch, i do not want to get into the discussion. i would rather stay out of it. ♪ >> college basketball fans crying foul after criminal charges were filed against four ncaa basketball coaches and executives with adidas for their involvement in a bribery scheme that was designed to steer college stars toward certain agents and endorsing the company. >> i think they are criminalizing regulations, think the fbi is doing the ncaa's dirty work. there have been scandals like this over the years, money has changed hands time and time

again, and coaches have lost their jobs and players have been declared ineligible and school s have been fined, but no one has ever been indicted. adidas, when they give money to a coach to have the players wear the sneakers, that is a deal. but if you give the money to a high school kid to wear the sneakers, that is a bribe. this whole thing is ridiculous. by the way, if this happens, if this goes through, then what you will have done is you would have said a private organization, the ncaa, is now -- their rules will be the law of the land because you can put people in jail for violating them. ♪ >> the federal reserve chair janet yellen is in cleveland, where she will deliver an address to the national association of business economists. investors listening closely for any clues she could give after two other officials gave conflicting views yesterday. with the new york fed president saying he supports another rate hike this year and the chicago fed president saying he wants

clear evidence of inflation before taking the next step. >> moving too quickly risks over-adjusting policy to head off projected developments that may not come to pass. a gradual approach is particularly appropriate and in light of subdued inflation a low neutral real interest rate. >> a lot of questions on wall street with the decline we saw earlier in inflation why they continue to raise rates and a call for another move this year. she said this is a controversial topic. we do not necessarily understand it all and we may have made mistakes, so janet yellen making a case for the fed to stay on the course it is on now, but saying they do not have the usual confidence they have had for years in how inflation works. ♪ vonnie: president trump and steve mnuchin said to have met a former federal reserve governor to discuss a potential nomination to the fed chair position.

this is following janet yellen's term. the contest for the position remains open according to administration officials. >> warsh is not far from a standard banker, although he has some slight differences in policy prescriptions. he does not like policy rules, like the taylor rule, he does not think they are accurate enough. he would go for a range for inflation, rather than a point target, like 2% right now. he thinks that we have been within an acceptable range for the past couple years. the question is, how would he go over at the fed? he has angered some at the fed with a sharp criticism on the way that the board has organized and governed, so it could be an issue. ♪ vonnie: the electric power authority in puerto rico ravaged by hurricane. virtually, the entire island remains without power. and electric utility bonds have

been offered a deal that would include a $1 billion loan and an influx of capital when it is needed. >> we have come up with a proposal that allows lending to occur on a 6% interest rate, providing a substantial chunk of new capital. it is fair to say it is not a market transaction. vonnie: the puerto rican fiscal authority thought about it but did not agree, rejecting the offer this morning. >> they are not interested. they made it clear that they believe the exchange, the deal, is just -- it would not be good for the electric utility and they are requesting anybody else who wants to offer any kind of loan or financing to contact them and discuss it with them. ♪ ♪

yvonne: welcome back to "bloomberg best." i'm yvonne man. the debate over cryptocurrency has jamie dimon labeling bitcoin a fraud. ray dalio called it a bubble. and some say it is not real. mike novogratz disagrees. he is starting a $5 million cryptocurrency hedge fund, with a comeback to professional money management. he sat down with erik schatzker to explain why bitcoin is appealing to macro traders. ♪ mike: in a lot of ways, this is a market like any other market. and you can, you see the psychology of fear and greed and, and the same way that you would see them in the charts of the indonesian the pair, dollar-yen or treasuries. they are exaggerated because of less liquidity. there is not a good way to short. so, when they fall, jamie dimon

makes a comment or china bans the exchanges, the trendline breaks, and they fall a lot harder than they would have in other markets because there is not a short base to cover. so you reach a new level of support and you rebuild your base. erik: how do you know when to buy and sell? how do you trade this thing? mike: there are multiple ways to trade. it is just macro, so you change -- trade the prices. i always tell people, i need a story and a chart. there is a lot of information, so part of it is event driven and access to information. one thing i keep trying to do is put myself in the center of the ecosystem. when you're at the center and it is still a relatively small world, you know what is happening. so when the theory of alliance got announced, it was well telegraphed that it would get

announced, it gets announced and the price goes way up, so that was an event driven trade. the broad trading of it is macro. you will see many zeniths and euphorias, so i sold at 5000 and i actually sold bitcoin, and then i was trying to buy it in the low 3000's. if you are good at that and you are a trading junkie, it is a lot of fun. it does increase your tax bill. [laughter] so for some people, to just sit, that is a different strategy. erik: you are trading bitcoin? jesus coin? mike: not on jesus coin. i have taken the approach to participate in all sides of the ecosystem. i have mines. erik: to create new coins? mike: to create new coins. it has been a money loser for us, and in local currency terms, i spent bitcoin to buy bitcoin line.

but you are better off just owning the bitcoins. and in ether, you are far better off just owning the ether. erik: where are you trading, what platforms? mike: we are fairly large, so we trade at different exchanges and one of the risks in the business right now is, the riskiest money you have in the system is being left on the exchanges. because -- erik: self central clearing. mike: they are not well capitalized, so you do not leave that much money on the exchanges. so we trade with lots of them. ♪ yvonne: still to come, a busy weekend m&a around the world. and straight ahead, compelling conversations on bloomberg television. is the italian banking system back on track or still at risk? >> it is a minor problem not affecting the country.

yvonne: this is bloomberg. ♪

♪ yvonne: you are watching "bloomberg best." i'm yvonne man. the health of italy's financial sector was discussed in depth this week at the european banking conference in milan. bloomberg's francine lacqua explored the topic in several exclusive interviews. let's begin with our conversation with intesa's ceo, whose bank recently took over the business of two troubled regional lenders. ♪ francine: how is this synergy going and do you think we are over the worst for italian banks? >> i think if you look at synergies coming from these banks, we are already delivering significant results, especially in returning back of deposits

, assets under management, so there is an increase in deposit in just in three months. so it is very positive. also, a you look at the cost side, we have received 1000 applications to the bank from the people that can leave in the organization, so both our revenue and cost side, we are perfectly on track on the plan on synergies on these two banks. integratione the ip , we will realize that by the end of the year. i think we can exploit very good results from these two banks. francine: do believe investors after focusing so much on the individual banks, will move on to worry about the small italian bank in general? >> italy is a country, in my view, and which there is an overestimation of the negative. loans, this trend of negative attitudes towards italy. in my view, today we are completely out from the negative

deriving from the perception of systemic counts and you could have some little minor problem, , but not affecting the strength of the country. with the cost of equity. so with the reevaluation of the equity of the italian banks can be absolutely reserved. francine: what about political risk? if you are investor, you think, they have come a long way. share prices have gone high. do you worry about the upcoming election? >> if you look at germany, they are now more like italy, not in sense of strength of the country or structure and conditions, italy more savings, but more public debt. but in any case from a political point of view in italy, what we need is an electoral low in order to lead to more stability. do not forget italy is a country with a lot of rich people, and rich people generally do not want to take risk or take strong political sides. my expectation is in the end,

there will be some compromise at the end of the elections. i am not worried at all for the italian political situation. ♪ francine: do investors still ask you about the banking system and nonperforming loans, or is it by and large fixed? >> well we are at a turning , point. actually, we turned the corner. npl stocks are declining. as you know, the critical cases have been dealt with, so we are approaching very rapidly normality which means the banking sector will start funding the real economy with great dynamite. francine: with the election of president macron and now with the germany, do you believe we are going to face more integration in europe? >> this is what europe needs. of course there is a rich agenda out there, and italy is working hard with other countries, with france, with germany, with spain to develop an agenda and push it forward. francine: what does brexit mean? and actually what did you take , of theresa may, prime minister

of the u.k. giving that speech , in florence? was it helpful? does it seem like they are softening their stands a little bit? >> it is modestly helpful. we will have to see the details. i do hope the brexit and united -- brexit negotiations get on a straight course with a clear roadmap, because this is what we need. what we don't need is further uncertainty in europe. francine: what does it mean for you specifically? if you have tough brexit negotiations, can italy actually be a beneficiary because people are moving from london to milan? >> this is an important side effect, and milan is an attractive location like other cities. so it is a welcome side effect. the point is europe must find new momentum for integration and complete a banking union, but also develop other areas and promote growth with a single market. ♪ policy was also top of mind this week. janet yellen and other officials spoke publicly about inflation and the state of the global

economy. bloomberg television caught up with a couple of experienced policymakers to get their take of the challenges facing central banks. here is former federal reserve governor dan tarullo in an exclusive appearance of "bloomberg daybreak americas." ♪ david: what is going on with inflation? that is the question we keep asking, and we keep asking and we're not getting a clear answer out of the fed members. >> i think it has been clear for i think it has been clear for some time that there is not a working model that on a meeting to meeting basis can give any sort of precise guidance to the fed as to where inflation is headed. people understand directionally that removal of slack from the labor market and economy more generally will start pushing inflation, but how quickly and when is something they have not been able to pin down. for the last few years, it has not been that much of an issue, because there were obvious reasons why inflation was not moving up. now i think, as the chair indicated yesterday, it is more

to revise the alan greenspan quote a bit of a conundrum and , it will be of importance going forward because this is more of a moment in which you have to make decisions about increases on a meeting to meeting basis. david: so if you are a member of the fed, and particularly the mofc, which you were recently how do you manage price , stability if you do not have a gps? if you do not have radar you can trust to tell you where inflation is going? >> well inflation is observable. ,that is true. as the chair said yesterday, because monetary policy operates with a lag, you cannot wait for things to totally develop before you react. but i think you can watch to see what is happening with actual inflation, as opposed to just assuming that it is going to be moving three months, six months or nine months in advance. i think what you have seen the last week since the fomc meeting is the predisposition of some of

the members of the fomc, it is almost like a default position that each of them has. i think in some respects the most important thing the chair did yesterday was try to explain as clearly as she could why she has gotten the predisposition she does. so the real answer to your question, david, is i think in a world in which the models are not reliable enough to tell you on a meeting to meeting basis what to do, you need to be exceedingly clear with how you are thinking about inflation and to communicate that to the markets. ♪ >> we have heard from bill dudley saying he thinks a to communicate recession is not in the media -- immediate cards. a lot of central bankers, including mario draghi today, say that economies are getting stronger. yet 2005, you wrote a famous book fault lines talking about things others were not seeing. is there something we are not seeing now? are we overconfident about the economy? >> well, so recessions, as janet and others have said, do not die

of old age. they die because of their -- because there are fertility -- fragilities. but the question is what are they? one could be insufficient inflation, which of course the tightening is meant to ward off. the second could be in the second sector. the question is, where are they? the problem with long accommodation like the one we have had is leverage builds up. both explicit leverage as we have seen in china and other countries like canada, but also implicit leverage, positions that are hard to unwind. and i think what we are seeing now is the possibility that some of these might be sources of fragility, stark, clear and present danger. but as the association of withdrawn, some of them will -- gets withdrawn some of them , will come to the forefront. >> bubbles in some asset classes? >> some would argue long-term bonds are very very strongly , priced at this point, because of the degree of accommodation

that has been there, and because of quantitative easing. now the point is if accommodation is withdrawn at a measure a quick pace, it is , possible to let the air out of some asset prices without causing enormous disruption. but of course, if the pace of withdrawal needs to be tightened because of foreseen contingencies, of course you can get sharper price reactions. yvonne: in another bloomberg exclusive, legendary short seller jim chanos shared his expert perspective, on "what'd you miss?" >> i made a suggestion a while ago that if they really wanted this to be about jobs, why don't they keep the tax rates higher and give a double deduction for employment wages? you know, if you really want to emphasize labor and jobs, why don't you actually then do it through the tax code? instead, they are emphasizing

capital formation, which may or may not lead to more jobs. joe: so it is hard to find an argument that is a real boost to the middle class. it does not seem like it is particularly oriented toward jobs. so who in your may not lead to more jobs. viewy winning here? jim let's go one step further : and look at the elephant in the room. they are talking about limiting the interest for corporations on new debt going forward. with -- thatebt would devastate the private equity and commercial real estate businesses. do we really think that will happen? scarlet: surprising given the background of donald trump. jim again, you do not think that : will be lobbied to death? so there is another big $1 trillion over 10 years they are hoping to collect that probably will go right out the window. julia: does anybody care? they will have 3% plus growth. he is going to finance it.

we are not worried about that, we do not care about the deficit anymore. jim: you know you have wall street people in the white house when you start with the best case scenario as the base case, right? and hope you do not disappoint. >> you said that about the corporate tax rates. jim what ever happened to : underpromise and overdeliver? you start with 3% and work from there, call me a cynic, but i think there might be a little bit of disappointment ahead of us. julia: and it is tough to even ascertain that, but what do you think the net effect of this framework is so far? sellit is a tough politically, because it is not a windfall, even the administration says the typical family is $1000 and i do not even think it is that. you are looking at eliminating -- at eliminating the estate tax, which kicks in basically after roughly $11 million, it is not small mom and pop farms. this is, as i said this will be , a great tax bill for hedge fund managers in florida, and you know, the descendents of a

-- of very wealthy people. it will be good for them. for everybody else, i'm not so sure. julia: the probability that something gets done in 2017? >> i do not think this bill is getting done. ♪

♪ yvonne: this is "bloomberg best." i'm yvonne man. let's look back at some of the week's top business stories. it was a busy weekend m&a with some european tieups making major news. >> finished utility fortham has offered to buy legacy fossil inl and trading business what could you have to be europe's biggest utility acquisition in more than five years in europe. >>. has agreed where they get a 47% holding. in 2017 it will make the offer for 22 euros a share for all units and investors.

and the ceo has said that they want to remain independent. how are you going to persuade uniper management to agree to this deal, and how important is that? >> our goal will be to have a constructive dialogue with the unit for management -- uniper management. and they said that they would be going to a similar stake. we approached the management in july and suggested discussions. they said they want to stay independent, and we of course respect that. but that the stake was available in the market and we decided to take that truth instead, and we are now looking forward to becoming a good and constructive shareholder in the company. for the of course we are going to need dialogue with management. merge inave agreed to a deal that brings together former archrivals from germany and france. the union will create a european transportation giant aimed at countering competition from china. >> we agreed to it because we

thought that was the best logic in the sector. not so much about the political sort of spring of a new european spirit, but we happily support that by putting work or actions together. >> you have made commitments to the french government, preserving jobs and sites in france. what other commitments having made around the particular tie up? >> absolutely. i think the first thing we need to say is this deal is aiming at creating values for our stakeholders, including of course for employees. if we took commitments, it is because we know that this can be a period of anxiety for our employees, so we think it was worth taking employment the taking employment for the job maintenance both in france and

, germany, so they know there is no difference between the commitments between france and germany and we will not be closing any sites for the next four years. matt: after angela merkel's underwhelming performance in the sunday german election, focus has now shifted to who will be getting the top job in her new coalition. wolfgang schaeuble is leading the finance ministry to become president of the lower house of parliament. what does this mean for schaeuble moving from finance minister to the head of the lower house of parliament? >> i think it will be an important position, because for the first time in a long long , period, there will be six parties represented in the bundestag in the german , parliament, and now the range is are presented. the far left all the way to the right wing, actually the first time we are having all of this broad debate in the bundestag and it requires a very senior, very experienced person to run the show and keep it under control because we can expect some very severe controversy in the bundestag. it is an important role for him.

and he has just turned 75, so i think he is senior enough and respected enough to hold the position. >> a major shakeup at equifax. the company ceo resigned over uproar over a data breach that impacted 143 million americans. a company veteran was named interim ceo. he was president of the asian operations. i suppose it is no great surprise the ceo has resigned. >> well, so actually a lot of folks, analysts putting out notes saying now we really wish they had weathered the storm, but there is public outcry and lawmakers pushing for the change, so it could go either way. i think investors, you know, under richard smith, the stock has done well, up until the last few weeks. i think there was tension on whether or not he would go. vonnie: what does the new person bring to the job?

i mean he has been there forever , as well. it is not like new blood coming in or somebody to clean house or fix the hacking situation. >> he will be an interim ceo. he has been with the company for seven years. most recently was their asian president, but he spent time running their largest unit, the u.s. information solutions unit, so very experienced in the company. i think it is interesting. the board did note in a release this morning they will be looking internally and externally for his permanent replacement. >> australia's big four banks are scrapping withdrawal charges of atm's after they try to salvage their reputations after a series of scandals. the charge will go for next month while the commonwealth bank and others will be acting immediately. it is a win for consumers, but how is this going to impact the banks? >> i guess the key thing for the banks is how much it cuts through. in terms of the overall amount of money the banks will make, this is relatively small.

but the one thing that continues is the charge to access their own money, so it is a p.r. win after months and months of problems. >> we have had a wave of data and observation on china this morning, some optimistic, some less. industrial profits surged, the worst -- the best in four years. it really means these companies can pay down their debt should they choose to. some of the best-performing data industry, steel and electronics and oil. so that is the payoff for benefit for them, drawing down on some of this debt. it is not all pointing in one direction. we had early data out for example, small and medium enterprises index put out by standard chartered. that has softened slightly. there is concern there about credit and the cost of more material inputs. then we have the small managers index, they are also marginally less confident as well. on the flipside, satellite index that looks at some of the manufacturing facilities here in

china, that has picked up a level, and then you have international investment confidence in china has also edged up a notch in august. so it is a bit of a mixed picture. it is hard to define exactly what is going on, but the industrial profits number is certainly strong and positive leading into this political party congress that happens on the october 18. >> japan's latest figures of economic numbers has sent mixed signals when it comes to the state of recovery. inflation rising by .7%, the most in two years, but still far below the central bank's 2% target. what does it tell you about the economy? >> that is right. it is a key number. if we take a look at how inflation was last year, we are actually in negative territory. if we look at a chart of inflation in japan for core inflation we see a pretty steady , upward trend since then. if you look at the numbers, you do see that energy costs are pushing that up a lot. we do not see enough pushing inflation in terms of continue -- consumer spending or wage

rising. we need to see more of that. that said, the trend is in the right direction. higher ins opened 16% free trade. that is the price of $69 hong kong a share. it is good timing and big names, could not get bigger in terms of the cornerstones behind this. >> most of the executives are on here about to have their ceremonial glass of champagne as then they will bang the gone when trading begins -- gong when trading begins at 9:30 a.m. this is the first and largest online consumer insurer, backed by some of the biggest names in china, and they happen to be all named ma. there is jack ma of course of alibaba, and there is tony ma, a 10.4% stake,ut and there is also peter ma, the third-largest cornerstone investor. and then there is monthly or she son of masayoshi

softbank with a 5% stake. big names, good timing, and index up about 26% year to date. and again, this is going to be testing the appetite for the online consumer in china, which of course has been paying dividends for a number of years. just ask alibaba. ♪

♪ >> a historic victory for

chancellor merkel winning a fourth term. you can see this on the function, where you see the breakdown and how the parties won different parts of the vote. yvonne: there are about 30,000 functions on the bloomberg, and we always enjoy showing you our favorites on bloomberg television. maybe they will become yours. here is another function you will find useful. quic , going to will lead you to our quick takes, where you can get important context and fast insight into important topics. here is a quick take from this week. >> opec has functioned as the textbook cartel. the 14 members of the organization of petroleum exporting countries produce 40% of the oil used every day, giving the group strong influence over oil prices and the global economy. like a champion boxer who has dominated the ring for decades. thans more than -- in more half a century of existence opec , has fought challenges from new

technology and competition from petroleum discoveries outside of the members' domains. but the group is against the ropes now as the u.s. produces shale supplies of frack oil and the planet begins to embrace renewable energy. to stave off competition, opec has cut output. this has worked in the past, but will it work now? here is the situation -- production cuts by opec and allies gave prices a quick boost when they were agreed upon in november 2016, but it did not last. but the real question is whether opec can prop up prices while the u.s. continues to increase production by fracking shale oil. here is the argument -- opec's agreement includes several nonmember countries which should help them gain control over crude oil and prices. some forecasts suggest it will -- oil consumption will continue to rise in the next 20 years, which seemingly would benefit opec and its allies. however, it is clear opec's strategy is not working as

planned, even after the production peaked, prices failed to rise. plus, with increased innovation in renewable energy, oil consumption peak sooner than planned, even after the production peaked, prices faile. and that would leave opec knocked down with no chance of getting back up. yvonne: that was just one of the many quick takes you can find on the bloomberg. you can also find them at bloomberg.com along with all of the latest business news and analysis, 24 hours a day. that will be all for "bloomberg best." thanks for watching. i'm yvonne man. this is bloomberg. ♪

♪ tom: hundreds or hurt as catalunya votes on independence. the spanish parliament said this should not have happened. scarlet: washington -- julie: washington thinks this is a waste of time, and they will do what must be done. tom: theresa may is for her party conference system, her cabinet behind her, they say she will be gone in a year. betty: elon musk has a new vision for