If Putin is being less dumb about Ukraine, we’re in trouble

Plus: America's immigration conundrum. [Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a rake field of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - Putin may [finally be wising up](. - Americans must [learn to tolerate immigration](. - True [corporate diversity is scarce](. - [China is not ready]( for its Covid wave. Is Our Autocrats Learning? One bad thing about autocrats, aside from all the human-rights violations and murder and whatnot, is that they are just not very good at running things. They defenestrate critics until they are left with only yes men who [guffaw]( at their cringey jokes and rubber-stamp their disastrous [invasions]( and social media [takeovers](. But give autocrats just a bit of self-awareness and they can be dangerous. Between therapy and his semester and a half of college, Tony Soprano was savvy enough to hold sway in North Jersey. Clinging to power in Russia is arguably more difficult, and Vladimir Putin has managed it for decades now. But in the process he has sequestered himself so far from reality that he blundered into the Ukrainian rake field, where he has been smacking himself in the face since February. There is a risk, though, that Putin still has the [wherewithal to avoid total catastrophe in Ukraine](, Hal Brands warns. He admitted last week his war has problems, which is the first step to recovery. And his campaign to bomb Ukrainian infrastructure and freeze out the population in the dead of winter may not just reflect Putin’s passion for making innocents suffer and die. It could be part of an effective strategy for breaking Ukrainian resistance. The West can’t let that happen. If autocrats don’t suffer the full consequences of their actions, then they keep repeating them. Bonus Autocracy Reading: Elon Musk is pushing [dangerous conspiracy theories]( on Twitter. — Parmy Olson  America to Immigrants: Go Away, Come Here America has an immigration conundrum: It can’t live with immigrants, but it can’t live without them. Despite being products of immigration themselves and endlessly banging on about melting pots and wretched refuse of teeming shores and all that, [Americans mostly can’t stand newcomers](, Eduardo Porter writes. It’s a big reason why a bipartisan [deal]( that would let Dreamers stay in the US probably won’t happen. The trouble is, without more immigrants, the US population will keep getting smaller and older, Eduardo notes. This won’t be good for living standards, economic growth or the ability to finally put together a decent soccer team. Worse, we’re discouraging and chasing away the most skilled immigrants with [the terrible H-1B visa system](, writes Bloomberg’s editorial board. One consequence is that the recent spate of tech layoffs means hundreds of highly capable future citizens may be forced back to their home countries through no fault of their own. President Joe Biden can and should help with temporary fixes, but Congress needs to overhaul the whole system, or keep watching the brains drain to places like Canada. Canada! It even has a decent [soccer team]( now. Bonus Editorial: [Japan needs to rearm](, but it must be careful spending its limited funds. — Bloomberg’s editorial board Bonus Self-Defeating Nationalism Reading: [Brexit has been a far worse disaster]( than Donald Trump. — Ian Buruma Companies Love Diversity, Haven’t Tried It I know it’s embarrassingly woke to suggest companies, electorates, book clubs and other such groups get better results when they get contributions from diverse talent pools. It’s also factually true, as study after study has shown. But it’s also important to remember that diversity alone isn’t magic pixie dust making companies, electorates and book clubs smarter. You have to make sure those diverse talents actually have real influence. Andreea Pupac writes about how, [despite decades of “fig-leaf feminism](” that has loaded corporate boards and other such sleepy backwaters with women, the C-suite is still a depressingly homogenous zone of middle-aged White men. This is no way to tap into diversity’s creative potential. Companies must do better. It starts with recruiting young women, something that’s much easier to do when you’re domiciled in a place that deems women deserving of such fancy amenities as health care. Matthew Winkler points out that, on metric after metric, companies headquartered in [states that protect abortion rights outperform companies]( in states that don’t. And states where women have abortion rights economically outperform the Gilead ones. It’s not magic pixie dust, but it’s close. Telltale Chart The best possible outcome for crypto is that it [becomes a harmless, niche hobby]( like Esperanto, writes David Fickling. Further Reading The [omicron wave is about to break on China](, and it’s defenseless. — Matthew Brooker Oil demand shows [no signs of peaking](. — Javier Blas Why do people keep falling for [pump-and-dump schemes](? — Matt Levine FTX is a reminder that [accounting matters](. — Michelle Hanlon and Nemit Shroff Kids are [drinking less but using cannabis a lot more](. Time for a public education campaign. — Lisa Jarvis ICYMI The Fed is [still really hawkish](. There was a [mystery rally]( just before CPI hit. Sam Bankman-Fried may soon [yearn for extradition](. Kickers Scientists are close to identifying the [official start of the Anthropocene](. Why [voice assistants are failing](. How to [blur your home]( on Google Maps. The New Yorker’s [best books of 2022](. Notes:  Please send book recommendations and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Instagram](, [TikTok](, [Twitter]( and [Facebook](. Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Opinion Today newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( | [Ad Choices]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022