The most important vibelection of your lifetime

What matters more to voters, digital trading cards or clean gutters? [Bloomberg]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a 10-point plan of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - [Election vibes]( will always win. - [A six-day work week]( Not in Berlin. - [Football players]( sacrifice their skin. - [AMLO throws Mexico]( for a spin. The Vibelection For those hoping this election will hinge on something more substantial than “vibes,” my apologies: We are already in [too deep](. We’ve spent the summer debating [Mountain Dew]( and [couch sex]( and [DemoBRATs]( and [camo hats](. For voters who want to see candidates focus on actual policy, it’s not looking too promising. One glance at Trump’s [new line]( of NFT trading cards — a [no good, very bad idea]( according to the editorial board — will tell you as much: At this point, both candidates know that vibes win. Trump beat policy wonk Hillary Clinton in 2016, Nia-Malika Henderson [writes]( not because he had more white papers, but because he was all about vibes (albeit [creepy]( ones). Vice President Kamala Harris’ recent [rise in the polls]( has more to do [with love]( than with promises for legislation. And that tracks with history: “Folks don’t vote for 10-point plans,” Patrick Gaspard, a policy guru and head of the Center for American Progress, told Bloomberg News last week at the DNC. “Every election for the last 200 years has been a vibes election.” The reason is obvious: “Most voters are juggling jobs and family and just trying to get by and simply don’t have time to focus much attention on specific plans. They don’t sit around watching endless hours of cable news or searching for the policy section on candidates’ websites,” Nia writes. “What they do focus on is how a candidate makes them feel and whether they vibe with a particular candidate.” So, dear reader, is your vibe a $99 digital trading card? Or is it a [clean gutter]( and [a piece of cake]( Because that’s what Harris and Walz are running on: Bonus Politics Reading: Hyperbolic divisiveness is why Americans say the country is on the wrong track. That creates [an opening for Harris]( if she’s willing to grasp it. — Clive Crook Meanwhile, in Greece … In the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, the donkey works seven days a week. Photographer: Coll Rosen for Warner Bros. Pictures In 2018, Greece banned “overweight” tourists — anyone weighing more than 100 kilograms (220 pounds) — from riding donkeys. Considering these animals are forced to carry jet-lagged travelers and their oversized luggage up more than 500 steps, five times a day, that seems like a reasonable stipulation! But while the donkeys are protected from working too hard, the people are not: As Lionel Laurent [writes]( a divisive new law in Greece will allow some businesses [to enforce]( a six-day work week — “a first in Europe and one that runs counter to the trend of experimenting with shorter work weeks to attract talent.” The new effort, which mainly applies to 24/7 manufacturing firms, is an unexpected wrinkle in Europe’s [vacation-all-August-long]( mentality. And it bucks a common stereotype within the continent, too: “Greeks, depicted as “[lazy]( during the euro crisis, actually work more hours than anyone else in Europe. Sipping wine in Santorini or lounging in a villa is a lifestyle not all that [accessible to]( actual Greeks,” he writes. Under no circumstances is this a “worker-friendly” law — overwork does not breed productivity. Nor is it some sort of emergency economic initiative. “Greece’s economy is today one of the [fastest-growing]( in Europe,” Lionel says. Instead, it has more to do with the country’s labor shortage. Between 2010 and 2022, Greece experienced an [exodus of]( more than a million workers. “This is driven partly by the euro crisis-related brain drain but also by [a ticking]( ‘time bomb’ of demographic decline as life expectancy rises and birth rates fall,” he explains. But that time bomb isn’t ticking in just Greece; it can be heard across the entire continent. “If Europe can’t find a way to overhaul its museum-like economy, Greece’s experiment with longer hours may end up being a vision of the future for all of us,” Lionel concludes. Read [the whole thing]( and be grateful you have Saturday off! Tackle It Elsewhere in overworked-and-underpaid jobs, you have college football players, who just kicked off their new season last weekend. Adam Minter [says]( a new set of rules involving strenuous play schedules and travel itineraries will increase “the risk of more injuries for college players and raises the potential for long-term effects.” “If the National Collegiate Athletic Association expects collegiate footballers to play more like NFL players, their compensation should be more aligned. But that’s not the case,” he says. Division I football players are paid less and get injured more than professionals. [Recent calculations]( out that reality: “During the five NFL seasons played between 2017 and 2022, athletes suffered 4,378 injuries. That works out to a rate of 34.4 per 1,000 athlete exposures. ... A [different study]( found that between 2014 and 2019, NCAA Division I football players had a reported game-related injury rate of 44.8 per 1,000 athlete exposures.” While NFL players have a compensation package that includes health care for five years after retirement, college players have a much weaker health safety net. “During their playing years, they or their school pay for [their coverage](. After that period, the school must provide two years of additional health care up to $90,000, at which point the NCAA’s new post-eligibility insurance kicks in. When those two years are up, there’s nothing else,” Adam writes. Even athletes with [substantial NIL deals]( could be in a tough spot. “If players are going to be required to give more to the game, they deserve an adequate health care arrangement,” Adam argues. I imagine the family of Jason Pugal, a player at Nebraska’s Chadron State College[1](#footnote-1) who [was paralyzed]( during a practice scrimmage earlier this month, would agree. No college footballer should need a [GoFundMe]( for spinal fusion surgery, and the NCAA ought to realize that. Bonus Back-to-School Reading: Universities are back in session, and so is [the debate]( over divestment from Israel. — John Authers Telltale Charts Imagine getting to your desk this morning and seeing that your boss left you a sticky note that said: “You must quit in the next few weeks to keep your pension. If you fail to comply, you’ll likely lose those [benefits]( next year.” I would be livid. That’s extortion! Yet that didn’t stop Andrés Manuel López Obrador from sending a similar notice to Mexico’s Supreme Court judges a few days ago. Juan Pablo Spinetto [says]( the outgoing president’s “radical, controversial [judicial overhaul]( will put Mexico “through the experiment of picking its judges — including to the top court — by popular vote.” This is worrying, for a number of reasons. “The proposed changes go in the opposite direction of what the nation needs and add volatility to the start of Claudia Sheinbaum’s presidency in October,” he writes. Politics are already putting the peso under tremendous pressure — a 13% slump since the election in June — and AMLO’s judicial revenge could tank it further. Australia’s fifth-richest person, Mike Cannon-Brookes, wants to spend $20 billion to construct the world’s largest [renewable energy export project]( to date: A 4-gigawatt solar farm in the remote Northern Territory. He’s calling it “SunCable,” and he expects it to generate about four times more electricity than the region currently consumes. The leftover energy will get sent through 4,300 kilometers of undersea power cable to provide about 15% of Singapore’s electricity. It’s impressive! But David Fickling [says]( the billionaire could make an even bigger environmental impact in Asia at just a fraction of the price: For a little more than $700 million, Cannon-Brookes could buy 5% each of Japan’s regional electricity utilities, which “would give him a say in the utilities that cover Japan’s renewables-rich, low-population density north and south, plus J-Power’s transmissions infrastructure, which can deliver electricity to the urbanized center of the country,” David writes. Further Reading Investors expecting the Fed to pivot from [fear of inflation]( to jobs should think again. — Bloomberg’s editorial board Jack Smith’s [new Trump charges]( expose the Supreme Court’s flawed presidential immunity ruling. — Noah Feldman Telegram’s [hands-off approach]( to content moderation allows abuse to proliferate. — Parmy Olson America’s contest with China will be decided [in Tonga this week]( and in the Pacific this decade. — Andreas Kluth Want [another wave of refugees]( Just keep refusing to help Ukraine with long-range missile strikes. — Marc Champion How long can the [Bank of Japan]( get away with rate shocks? — Daniel Moss and Gearoid Reidy Mark Zuckerberg is trying to [appease Republicans]( by throwing himself under the bus. — Dave Lee ICYMI Ambulance squads are [running low]( on volunteers. Matthew Perry [was exploited]( before his death. AI nudes are [creating a crisis]( in South Korea. Kickers There’s no such thing as [too many]( [honey deuces](. Italians fight for the right to [feast on the beach](. Liquid Death and Yeti launched [a morbid collab](. Park Avenue’s [park]( is staging a comeback. Notes: Please send honey deuces and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Threads]( [TikTok]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( and [Facebook](. [1] Chadron State College is a Division II school, which is still regulated by the NCAA. Follow Us Stay updated by saving our new email address Our email address is changing, which means you’ll be receiving this newsletter from noreply@news.bloomberg.com. 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