‘Then you’re running a crime scene ’

Welcome to the weekend!

The US just got its first outpost of China’s biggest coffee chain, whose name comes from something represented in China by the number 8. Which chain is it? Test your knowledge with the Pointed quiz.

While enjoying your own cup of coffee, don’t miss our audio playlist, available in the Bloomberg app. We’ve got five great stories on everything from China’s dominance of critical minerals to pistachios’ dominance of social media.

Don’t miss Sunday’s Forecast, in which we look at what’s next for global trade. For unlimited access to Bloomberg, subscribe!

Institutional Memory

In its 250 years, the American system of democracy has endured periods of remarkable stress — civil war, Jim Crow, Nixon’s power grab — and thrived by responding to them (voting rights, a professional civil service, legislation to prevent another Watergate). Over time, this track record led to an understandable belief that US democracy was defended by unassailable institutional protections, Filipe Campante and Ray Fisman write. But now the contours of those protections against anti-democratic impulses are being exploited to consolidate power.

US institutions aren’t just guardians of democracy, but morality — making the necessary response to their erosion both political and moral. To restore the idea that is America, we must re-embrace self-restraint, winning with integrity and weighing means and ends, Anne-Marie Slaughter argues. “Ideals are like stars,” she writes, quoting Civil War general Carl Schurz. “You will not succeed in touching them with your hands. But like the seafaring man on the desert of waters, you choose them as your guides, and following them you will reach your destiny.”

Few cities have defended their ideals as fiercely as Hong Kong, which five years ago was blindsided by a national security law that silenced dissent and tightened Beijing’s control. The law led to the jailing of lawmakers and journalists, drove mass emigration and tarnished the city’s image — last year, Morgan Stanley’s former Asia chair declared Hong Kong “over.” But that prescription belies the reality, Richard Frost writes. Civic society has been curtailed, but Hong Kong’s role as a global finance hub has only grown as the US seeks to rein in China’s ambitions.

Dispatches

Washington, DC
Modern fine dining is enabled by plastic. The artful sauce squiggles? Delivered via plastic squeeze bottles. Those otherworldly food shapes? Crafted by silicone molds. The industry’s reliance on plastic has become “more drastic over the years,” says Edward Lee, a former Iron Chef contestant. “It’s not necessary. It’s just that it’s so convenient and it’s so prevalent…that we don’t even think about it.” At Shia, his new nonprofit restaurant, Lee is doing more than thinking about plastic. The Korean outfit is charting a path for restaurants to ditch it.

Port Pirie, Australia
From the top of a giant furnace, workers in high-visibility overalls peer down on a sprawling industrial plant. Rain lashes the buildings below as strong winds threaten to rip the hard hats from their heads. It’s make-or-break time for the Port Pirie smelter, which has turned rock into lead, copper, gold and silver for more than 130 years. Once a symbol of industrial might, the plant is now squeezed by high costs and Chinese competition that are battering the rest of the world’s processing capacity. It’s a test case for how far governments will go to reduce their dependence on China.

Weekend Interview

Agree or Disagree?

Trump needs to get out of Jerome Powell’s way. Churchill said that democracy was the worst form of government “except for all those other forms that have been tried.” Independence may be the worst form of central banking — except for all the others, John Authers writes for Bloomberg Opinion.

Progressives’ disdain of genius is a problem for the West. The more advanced the knowledge economy becomes, the more we depend on the tiny minority of people who can absorb the vast body of learning that has accumulated and make innovative breakthroughs, Adrian Wooldridge writes for Bloomberg Opinion.

Weekend Plans

What we’re riding: a rollercoaster. The passage of Trump’s budget megabill capped five months in which the president has upended everything from foreign policy to higher education. Yet with breakneck speed comes the risk of a crash.

What we’re hitting: the BRICS. Trump’s “America first” mantra has created an opening for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa to challenge the US-led world order. But this group will need shared values to become a meaningful force.

What we’re ordering: a mail-in kit for at-home sperm preservation. It’s a thing! Such services are growing as men become more proactive about reproductive health and as advances in technology make sperm storage cheaper and more accessible.

What we’re obsessing over: heists. Unpredictable harvests are driving high-profile thefts of olive oil and coffee beans. And to kick off its new season, Bloomberg Investigates tells the story of the mafia behind one of Brazil’s biggest bank heists.

What we’re eating: pistachios. A year and a half after “Dubai chocolate” — a bar stuffed with crispy pistachio cream — went viral, the nuts are popping up in pastries, espresso drinks, pastas and more, thanks in part to their powerful visual appeal.

One Last Thing

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