Who has the world's No. 1 economy? Not the U.S.

[Bloomberg View]( A daily digest of opinions and analysis There's No Shame in Being Second Sorry, Yanks, but by most measures — GDP at purchasing power parity, manufacturing output, exports, even the price of a Big Mac — China has already passed the U.S. and is pulling farther away. [Noah Smith explains why]( the gap will grow wider in coming years. Brexit Talks Are Failing. Somebody Needs to Act. The U.K. hasn't overcome political obstacles to serious negotiation. The EU has little incentive to bail it out. And Theresa May is flailing. But for all the prime minister's missteps (and there have been many), [Therese Raphael says]( no one else in her party seems prepared to level with voters. Why Don't Board Members Follow Company Conduct Codes? Most businesses have rules barring racist rants like [Marc Faber's](— but they're only aimed at employees. Holding corporate board members to the same standards as regular workers and executives would pay off for everybody, [Stephen Gandel argues](. How Scientists Watched the Stars Collide For the first time in human history, astronomers heard a cosmic whisper and inferred a mega-bang. [Faye Flam explains]( why this most improbable of scenarios actually makes perfect sense. Ritholtz's Reads - Robots are coming for these Wall Street jobs ([Bloomberg]() - Step inside the Silicon Valley of agriculture ([National Geographic]() - The poor suffer most from climate change ([Financial Times]() (Read Barry Ritholtz's full daily news roundup [here](.) Bloomberg Gadfly - Why is [Tootsie Roll]( even a public company? - [Oil bulls](, here's another number worth tracking - New York awaits as bankers go [through the looking glass]( (Read more from BV's sister site for [fast business commentary](.) Bloomberg L.P. ● 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022 [Web]( ● [Facebook]( ● [Twitter]( [Feedback]( ● [Unsubscribe](