| Plus: The global HIV response is in crisis | |
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| Welcome to the weekend! The Economist just put out its list of the most livable cities, and one country’s capital took the top slot with perfect or near-perfect marks in health care, education and culture. Which city is it? Find out with this week’s Pointed quiz. What else gets perfect marks? Our audio playlist, available in the Bloomberg app. We’ve got five great stories on everything from China’s “spiritual bars” to the rise of “AI co-founders.” Don’t miss the Weekend Big Take on US oil supremacy in Iran, or tomorrow’s Forecast on the outlook for regime change there. To receive unlimited access to Bloomberg.com, please subscribe. |
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| For more than two decades, the US has led the global response to HIV/AIDS, and with no vaccine or cure, preventing further spread remains critical. That’s one reason US cuts to foreign aid have so alarmed public health experts. In May, then-DOGE chieftan Elon Musk said that HIV-prevention programs were unaffected, but UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima says otherwise. Her organization is one of the key bodies fighting the virus globally, and Byanyima tells Mishal Husain that the disruption they’re seeing is both real and deadly. |
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| Preventing harm before it happens is a powerful motivation, one that’s also animating the Japanese government’s crackdown on “host clubs” where women pay for male companionship. The clubs were long viewed as harmless, but their reputation is souring as an increasing number of younger, poorer women take on debt — or even engage in sex work — to pay for them. Host clubs’ appeal speaks to a growing economic divide in Japan, while the new rules of engagement reflect government efforts to maintain order in a nation known for its low crime rate. |
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| Sometimes prevention is less about stopping something from happening and more about being ready if it does. At this year’s Folkemødet, Denmark’s annual democracy festival, the war in Ukraine and fears of Russian aggression loomed large. Participants cast votes in “wargame” scenarios, military divers offered boat tours, and Danes were briefed on the best goods to stockpile. It was a subtle but firm reminder that Denmark is no longer out of harm’s reach. “The security threat is at its most severe since World War II,” crisis minister Torsten Schack Pedersen told the assembled crowd. “I think it’s very natural that Danes are a bit concerned.” |
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| The year is 2025, and you’re a founder looking to grow your tech startup. Which of the following metrics will best indicate your success or failure?
a. Market capitalization
b. Total capital raised
c. Revenue per employee If you answered C, welcome to the future. In tech’s “blitzscaling” era, market cap and capital raised were prized startup metrics and “unicorn status” was the north star. But these days, bragging rights go to leaders who keep their headcount the lowest. You can credit this new model of growth to AI, Walter Frick writes. Tech CEOs are already betting on when we’ll see the first one-person billion-dollar company.  Illustration: Irene Suosalo for Bloomberg Spain is now the world’s guinea pig. The country’s decade-long recovery from financial crisis has made it a testing ground for three of the rich world’s biggest issues — migration, housing and the energy transition — and in certain respects a counterpoint to the US, John Authers writes for Bloomberg Opinion. Abundance needs an anti-abundance addendum. In many areas of life, more efficient markets have given us a crisis of overproduction, Adrian Wooldridge writes for Bloomberg Opinion. Just as liberalism must find a way to say yes to infrastructure, it must also find a way to say no to too much stuff and stimulation. |
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| China
At a dimly lit bar in Beijing, the rattle of wooden sticks used for fortune telling blends with the clink of cocktail glasses. Patrons here aren’t just ordering drinks — they’re seeking a glimpse of the future. Dubbed “spiritual bars,” these hybrid venues are cropping up across China, part of a boom in the “metaphysical economy” powered by younger generations seeking out solace and certainty.  Illustration: Maggie Cowles for Bloomberg United States
When Chris Isbell first floated the idea of growing Japanese rice at his family’s farm in Arkansas, few thought he could pull it off. “It’s impossible to grow Koshihikari in the US,” one person told him. Almost 40 years later, Isbell Farms is a leading US producer of Japanese sake rice; one of only two farms in the country to grow the king of sake rice varietals; and a driving force behind the emerging American sake boom.  Illustration: Maggie Cowles for Bloomberg |
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Mag Men | | “Si wanted Condé Nast to be the lushest, wealthiest, most exclusive party in the world.” | | Michael Grynbaum Empire of the Elite: Inside Condé Nast, the Media Dynasty That Reshaped America | | Grynbaum’s chronicle of Si Newhouse’s half-century at the helm of Condé Nast has plenty of gossip and arcana, and characterizes Newhouse as a striver who hired other strivers to publish magazines for a nation of, well, strivers. The company was undoubtedly elite, James Tarmy writes, but not so much an empire as an expensive Potemkin village. |
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| What we’re eating: pizza in London, where the pizza scene has gotten as white-hot as the molten pools of aged mozzarella on a vodka pie. “Every day, I have a chef who is leaving to do their own concept,” says Dough Hands chef Hannah Drye. What we’re playing: the long game. So is UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose decision to raise defense spending to 2.5% of GDP has already sparked calls for even more — potentially exceeding 3% — to effectively deter Russian aggression. What we’re buying: a yacht. So are the newly wealthy in Vietnam. The country’s rise as a manufacturing powerhouse fueled an economic boom that’s now making it a market of interest for yacht makers. How we’re paying for our yacht: cash. Six days a week in the heart of Singapore, hundreds of people line up in a rundown mall to buy and sell hard currency at one of 30 money changer stalls that are thriving even as digital payments proliferate. What we’re wearing on the yacht: men’s shorts. Once a fashion taboo, shorts of all silhouettes are now a bold staple in the male wardrobe. The trend is a testament to the overarching rule of today’s menswear: Confidence and conviction are key. |
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