Bloomberg Weekend Reading

The European Union will ban coal imports from Russia in its first move targeting Moscow’s crucial flow of energy revenue after alleged atrocities in Ukraine. While sanctions have undoubtedly hurt Russia’s economy, energy exports are still helping prop up its finances. European energy companies have also found a loophole to appease public opinion, Javier Blas writes in Bloomberg Opinion. The ruble, mocked by U.S. President Joe Biden as “rubble,” has surged back to where it was before the war—though there’s a big caveat. Still, sanctions may continue to fall short as long they don’t interrupt Russia’s fossil fuel industry.

What you’ll want to read this weekend

Even the wealthy are struggling to buy food as Shanghai’s Covid-19 lockdown drags on. China’s President Xi Jinping is facing a rare show of public anger over the stringent containment measures, with the city’s 25 million residents sealed up at home and complaining of dwindling supplies as well as separation from infected children. In the U.S., an annual dinner in Washington might have been a super-spreader event and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi tested positive for the disease—after spending an hour with Biden over two days.

Elon Musk wasted no time trying to reshape his favorite social media platform after becoming Twitter’s largest shareholder and newest board member. But the site made clear the Tesla CEO wasn’t the force behind a potential edit button on the platform. Musk also hosted a massive party at Tesla’s new factory in Austin, Texas. The billionaire’s week was capped by an all-private SpaceX spaceflight to the International Space Station.

Elon Musk on stage at the Tesla plant in Austin, Texas. Source: Tesla Inc.

While housing prices are exuberant to the point of unaffordability across most of the U.S., the boom isn’t being felt everywhere. Some rich suburbs are among the markets with the slowest price appreciation. Wealthier buyers are moving to more-affordable locations, fueling bidding wars even as mortgage rates rise. And staff at luxury New York apartment buildings are threatening a strike that might just force residents to take out their own trash.

Atmospheric methane rose at a record rate for a second year and global warming is worsening Afghanistan’s hunger crisis. When it comes to the carbon offsets used by corporate polluters, crypto enthusiasts aren’t usually top buyers. But some on one crypto platform have been scooping up scores of cheap or useless offsets. 

The pandemic has made people reconsider where their food comes from, thinking that’s led to increased demand for happier chickens and healthier eggs. And a wine expert says there’s really only one glass you need—from big reds to buttery whites.

From left: Zalto Denk’Art Universal, Josephine No. 2, GlasVin Universal, and Gabriel-Glas Gold. Source: Vendors

What you’ll need to know next week

What you’ll want to read in Businessweek

The Red-Hot Center of a Tight Job Market

Carmel, Indiana, is in many ways a Midwestern success story. The Indianapolis suburb has lured startups and corporate headquarters while seeing a steady uptick in population and construction. But Carmel is also an example of what happens when an economic boom runs up against a labor crunch years in the making, and the unusual steps employers and politicians are taking to deal with it.

Workers at Gaylor Electric in Hamilton County, Indiana Photographer: Jason Bergman for Bloomberg Businessweek
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