Bloomberg Opinion

Fun fact: my first regular, paid writing gig was a weekly baseball column for the Boston Metro. It was a dream job for the little girl who grew up scoring the games with her dad, and for the young woman whose idea of a nice vacation was driving around the Carolina leagues looking at prospects. But one of my earliest baseball memories is going to Cooperstown with my mom and realizing -- with that piercing sense of unfairness that kids seem to feel more deeply than adults -- that the great Negro Leagues players had been excluded from the leaderboards. When MLB finally decided to rectify that this week, it was a form of belated professional justice for some of the greatest players to ever swing a bat or throw a ball. My column for Bloomberg Opinion (gift link): https://lnkd.in/ex5x7k5S

Donald Trump fought the law and the law won. “This was long overdue. There may be violence in the streets in response to this verdict. But it was long overdue. There may be political fissures that take years to mend. But it was long overdue.” My column: https://lnkd.in/ecYUJWzz

Donald Trump fought the law and the law won. “This was long overdue. There may be violence in the streets in response to this verdict. But it was long overdue. There may be political fissures that take years to mend. But it was long overdue.” My column: https://lnkd.in/ecYUJWzz

Donald Trump, who turns 78 in June, has spent decades circumventing and flouting civil and civic society. He spent his presidency and the years since going well out of his way to undermine the rule of law. And the law finally caught up to him, writes Tim O'Brien. But the more critical verdict will come on Election Day. Read the full column: https://lnkd.in/e34qruZ2

My latest for Bloomberg Opinion I wrote this ahead of the verdict that was released today - you can read more about that here: https://lnkd.in/gkNjHFze From my piece: Hong Kong-based democracy and rights advocate and former lawmaker, Emily Lau, says the city doesn’t need these laws. “I want Beijing to understand that the situation has settled down now, and there are no more protests, no more violence,” she told me. “There is no national security risk anymore, so we want to be free and safe the way we were before.” Walking through Hong Kong’s narrow alleyways recently, it didn’t feel like much had changed. There were perhaps fewer expat faces, shopping malls were quieter, and many shops were boarded up, awaiting new tenants in the aftermath of harsh Covid-19 lockdowns. But for long-time residents, it is a completely transformed society, as one who has chosen to leave told me. https://lnkd.in/gj9ADPRM

American Airlines Chief Commercial Officer Vasu Raja alienated corporate and premium customers. It will take more than his departure to win them back. The post-pandemic surge of demand for premium air travel is where large carriers are making their money, and American Airlines is missing out on the bonanza. Read my column for Bloomberg Opinion:

After a three-month hiatus, former Goldman Sachs executive Beth Hammack has landed her next gig as CEO and president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. Hammack's departure from Goldman in February was just the latest sign that the glass ceiling at the investment bank is still impenetrable. Despite its pledges to diversify its management ranks, Goldman has never had a female chair, CEO, president or CFO. I wrote for Bloomberg Opinion at the time that we don’t know exactly why Hammack decided to leave, but we have plenty of clues. The company passed her over as CFO in 2021, instead moving Hammack into a position it claimed would eventually lead to a more senior role. (Spoiler alert: it didn’t.) And that’s despite being described by colleagues and industry insiders as a “unique talent who dedicated her life to the firm,” a “deep intellect” and “bound for higher office.” She was said to have lacked “the swagger” of Goldman’s high-fliers and kept her “ties to a number of illustrious industry figures under close wrap," encapsulating the lose-lose position in which women at Hammack’s level frequently find themselves. Too little swagger and she’s considered “atypical” for Goldman; too much and research suggests she would risk being marked as overly ambitious. The most striking and cringe-worthy anecdote I read about Hammack came from a former Goldman executive who told Bloomberg News in 2020: “She’s brilliant and she can explain the most complicated things in standard English. Once I thought of challenging her and asked if she could explain something in a Haiku.” There’s a metaphor there — the impossible standards women at the top are held to, the extra mile they are asked to go, how little their time is valued. And no surprise, Hammack delivered the haiku first thing the next morning. So why did she leave? Maybe she just got tired jumping through all those hoops and never landing at the top.

As the halfway mark of his term approaches, Colombia's President Gustavo Petro looks more like a lame duck than a revolutionary my latest for Bloomberg Opinion (with token for free access)

🇮🇳 #Delhi recorded an all-time high temperature of 52.9 degrees Celsius (127.22 Fahrenheit) on Wednesday as sweltering conditions hit the north and western parts of #India. 🗳 How do you run a #democracy when the mercury rises this high? That’s the problem faced by voters right now, says David Fickling for Bloomberg Opinion. 🌡 Read why changing the system is a risk worth taking: https://lnkd.in/etHwT8xw #election #Modi

Rishi Sunak wants all 18-year-olds to take part in a form of national service. Is this the best (or worst) idea to come out of the UK election so far? 🎥 Therese Raphael joins adrian wooldridge and Marcus Ashworth LIVE to discuss: Wednesday, 12.30pm BST / 7.30am ET