Battle lines on trade. We have been in a trade war for decades. Scarlet plus, executive insight from the geneva motor show. And International Womens day, thoughts on a Journey Towards gender equality. Companies that have more gender diversity perform better. The speed is not so fast yet. Scarlet it is all straight ahead on bloomberg best. Scarlet hello and welcome. I am scarlet fu. , your bloomberg best weekly review of the most important Business News around the world. The week began with yet another executive order from u. S. President donald trump. It was a revision of the january travel ban was blocked by court. President trump has signed a new travel ban. The new directive removes iraq from an original list of seven countries whose citizens cannot travel to the u. S. For the next 90 days. The order scope also alters the treatment syrian refugees, who had been originally banned indefinitely. Those with existing visas or green cards would be allowed to enter the u. S. This will not go into effect until several weeks from now. Thisly that is a sign of administration to put forth the kind of message they are tying to correct some of the mistakes they made from the First Executive action that were shut down by the ninth district court. What is different from a legal perspective . We have seen this working its way through the courts. How did the white house address some of those in the executive order today . They tried to narrow the ban so it would seem more reasonable, so that it would pass scrutiny under analysis such as due process. But the big question i think in the courts will still be what is the significance of President Trumps earlier statements when he was a candidate in which he expressly said that he sought to impose a ban on a muslims . What is the significance of the interview that his friend and colleague Rudy Giuliani gave when he said trumps purpose was to find a way to accomplish a muslim ban without saying so . If the court to give credence to those of statements, then this order could be just as vulnerable as the last one. House republicans unveiled their longawaited legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care act. Today on twitter, President Trump touted the plan by tweaking, our wonderful new Health Care Bill is now out for review and negotiation. Andacare is a complete total disaster is putting imploding fast. There is going to be an almighty fight on this. Is there any middle ground . Is there any meeting . You know, i think there is. One of the things we are seeing from republicans on capitol hill, you see senator paul making statements like dead on arrival. And then he is also out there saying President Trump says it is open to negotiation. Maybe that is good news. It is the beginning of a long legislative process. This is just a start. The republicans have to show it does not increase the deficit. That it has no higher costs. That is going to be difficult to do for them. Even then, even if they are able to use the reconciliation process, already seven of their own members in the United States senate have said it is a nonstarter. So this socalled Replacement Program is really pretty much dead on arrival. It is dead on arrival. I think what we want is we want it to be repealed and they it to be replaced with something that allows more people to get insurance at a cheaper price. This is just another Government Program with new entitlements, new taxes. This is not what conservatives want. House representative jim jordan says he is going to introduce a bill tomorrow that will just be a clean straight up repeal of obamacare. Jim jordan the house, rand paul in the senate, both plan to introduce bills tomorrow that will be straight up, repeal obamacare. What we are saying is the House Freedom caucus, what dr. Paul and senator lee in the senate were saying, lets do something every single republican voted on, boated for. Lets repeal it. But the same legislation on President Trump the desk as on president obamas desk. The united kingdom, news from chancellor hammond, the latest forecasts out of the u. K. , the office for budget responsibility delivering a 23. 5 billion pound cut in planned borrowing over the next five years. Why . Because the gdp forecast is one of the elements in this raising the 2017 Economic Growth forecast to 2 from 1. 4 . So the brexit bears out there that thought the economy would the battered after the decision, that did not transpire. These forecast had to be raised, at least in the near term. The further you go out, the more the cuts come through. To sum up this budget i would call it cautiously optimistic or upbeat, but with few giveaways. So that growth forecast for 2017 raised to 2 from 1. 4 in november, but in every Consecutive Year after that to 2021, the forecast was either unchanged or downgraded because of course there is still the prospect of brexit looming. And this is something philip hammond, the chancellor, did have to acknowledge. The growth forecast has been boosted. Are you cynical about that or not . I think for this year, the u. K. Economy could be ok. 2 is possible. It is possible. We dont really get into the meat of brexit until next year. This year is about setting the seen rather than actually getting into the negotiations. It could be closer next year. , we will have to struggle to get to 2 . Unchanged in the ecb, 0 . Bang in line with what many forecast. The ecb saying affect purchases will be 60 billion euros from april to december. On schedule, it has already been flagged. The ecb keeping asset purchases at 80 billion a month until the end of march. And the headline everyone was looking for, the ecb rates lower present or lower levels for an and past theod qe horizon. How and when does draghi begin to communicate that the ecb will wind down its qe program . How and win. I think the sequencing for the exit is forward guidance, changing that, then changing the asset purchases, the tapering. And then the policy rates. I think that came through in todays press conference. I think the real change to for guidance would come earliest at the june meeting. I think they will want to get the frenchll it election hump. There is a potential, risk of an outcome there that could put their Economic Outlook onto a completely different trajectory. That is not our baseline, but they will want to get those uncertainties behind them. If we keep getting the same momentum we are seeing in global the data like the u. S. Labor market, if that keeps going, then june should be in my opinion the point in time where we see a significant change on forward guidance. The payrolls report coming from d. C. With bloombergs Michael Mckee right now. John, the wall street traders nailed it. Economists didnt. 235,000 jobs were created. The whisper number, 230,000. Both higher than the 200,000 economists had forecast. But economist did nail the unemployment rate, 4. 7 , down by. 1 . 9. 2 unchanged for the number. The disappointment in this number, if there is a such a thing, 0. 2 rise in average Hourly Earnings brings the year over year to 2. 8 , lower than had been forecast. Solid overall, good for wall street because it has the goldilocks element in the context of a fed hike cycle, and somewhat less good for main street because wages could have been better. The federal reserve, did it move the dial for them at all . And what has changed for them in the last two weeks that really drove them to come out and change the way they have spoken to us for the last couple of months . I think this report means we definitely get a hike next week, but it does not mean we get more than three hikes for 2017. Not as yet, at least. So that is why the market likes it, because the market expected a hike next week. The only thing it was worried about is do we get a higher path on future rates . And this report suggests we dont. Scarlet still to come on bloomberg best, jamie dimon explains why he wants european banks to thrive. We hear from the geneva motor show. Plus, gender issues under the microscope on International Womens today. And more of the weeks top business stories. European Car Companies consolidate. So what drove the deal . Weekend and large our brand portfolio, address a wider range of customers. Scarlet this is bloomberg. Scarlet this is bloomberg best. I am scarlet fu. Lets continue our global tour of this weeks top business stories at the National Peoples congress in china, where the government announced its key economic objectives for 2017. The chinese premier delivering the governments economic targets for the year. The emphasis will be on stability and reducing risk. He also sent a clear message about who is in charge in china. Give us the clear takeaways from the speech. Front and center was that softer gdp target of 6. 5 , and that optimism as well, possibly higher was what they added into the phrasing. Then we had things like cpi, 3 . Gdp around 3 . And the greater liberalization of the yuan, signaling around the currency. The context is that it seems to suggest that the reformers who have debated the back and forth over the last two months do have the upper hand. Is there any doubt at all in your mind that china can hit the 6. 5 target . I think in a politically sensitive year like this one, they will do Everything Possible to achieve the 6. 5 target. I do not see any problems. Because now the economy is actually doing very well. You have the Property Market booming. The old economy, traditional industries, are recovering. The Service Industry is also growing at a rapid pace. So the growth target can be met. Deutsche banks Ceo John Cryan is ripping up his own turnaround plan, admitting the 17monthold effort has stopped. That includes offering a billion euros in stock and reintegrating prospects. It is good in terms of stability of deutsche bank. Remember that last year there was a lot of worries over the existential future of the bank. I think this should put that to rest and give it a best in class capital ratio that keeps clients coming back in. When do we see a profit . There is no deadline attached to these proposed targets. There are upfront costs. This is a costly strategy to reintegrate a banker they said bank. Ere going to sel they said they were going to sell. There is a lot of uncertainty and no clear trajectory. I personally feel much more comfortable sitting in the seat i sit this time, this year, then i obviously would have done last year. We are feeling much more positive because the environment is good. Were seeing growth again. To some extent we have done hard work. There is still quite a lot to do. So if the regulators are listening, we are still focused on improving controls and efficiency, but there will be a lot more fun as we develop those businesses in the future. General motors has agreed to sell its long struggling european opel and vauxhall units to frances psa group, valued at 2. 2 billion euros. The deal will create europes secondlargest carmaker. The deal is done. They took a lot of discussion with unions and government. This is mary barras swansong from gm. Exiting europe, finally. This puts carlos at number two. That is what he gets. Scale, size, and brand. He is set to deliver synergies billionillion euros between now and 2026. What about gm . Kaching. Share buybacks are on the agenda. That is what gm intends to do with the proceeds from this divestment. Being that europe is from a regulatory perspective and Customer Preference perspective, has divert somewhat from the risk of our global operations. As a result we need to find a way to get more scale locally here so we can make the investments necessary to be successful in the business Going Forward. I think having the opportunity to leverage two iconic brands like opel and vauxhall is a big opportunity for a company like ours. We can and get to a larger group of customers. If we have a manufacturing footprint in u. K. , if we have a hard brexit, it is much better the source from inside. Lets turn to the latest on a brexit. Sterling falling to a sevenweek low today against the dollar as Prime Minister theresa may faces a new setback in the house of lords. So what happens today than . What amendments will be added to this draft bill . House of lords looking to rewrite the bill. They won a meaningful vote to get theresa may to subject any deal she does strike in a couple years to parliament for a meaningful vote. They do not like it. They view it as an impediment to negotiations. They worried that it will undermine the negotiating position, and they would like to see none of it. Yeah, is it a blow . It is a bit of a disappointment. Next week, there is some chatter that even if she gets the bill passed next week after parliamentary wrangling, we might look toward the end of march for this article 50. The National Peoples congress in beijing, day four. Attention is now shifting abroad. The foreign minister been addressing the media, touching on topics including chinas relations with the u. S. , a summit between president xi and trump, and beijings unpredictable ally, north korea. Lets start with the chances of a summit. Is this possible . It certainly seems like it. He said the two president s will be meeting at some point. We have yet to know when or where that will take place. He said there had been something of a reset of relations between u. S. And china after that phone call between president xi and President Trump. He said he was expecting to have a positive relationship with his counterpart, secretary of state rex tillerson, who will be in the region next week. He also addressed north korea and said tensions are rising. He called on the North Koreans to stop their nuclear program. He also called on the u. S. And south korea to stop their military exercises. He wants to see engagement and talks, and said that china is ready to play a role in facilitating those talks. Chinas number two telecoms maker is being fined for violating u. S. Restrictions on the sale of American Technology to iran. Zte will plead guilty and pay as much as 1. 2 billion. Give us a little bit more background here and what are the terms of this settlement . This is a big settlement for zte. They are agreeing to pay as much as 1. 2 billion. They are also pleading guilty to three felonies, including violating export laws and obstruction of justice here, so it is a big deal for the company. And it is clear that the Trump Administration is trying to make an example out of the company. Commerce secretary wilbur ross held a press conference where he said that this is an example of how the administration is going to hold companies to account for violating these kind of export laws. Even though it began earlier, they are using it as an example of how tough they plan to be Going Forward. Oil prices moving big, off by 7. 5 over the last two days. U. S. Production is moving higher. U. S. Stockpiles moving higher. Ceo of continental says more shale investment could chill the market . Is this capitulation . No, i do not think we are there yet. So what is happening . We built up a massive net long position in oil. It was a record, and it stayed that way over several weeks. So what we are seeing in the markets are those longs coming out. Of course i dont think they are anticipating a massive plunge in prices, that is back down to the 20 or 30 level we saw. It is down from the level we saw last year. It is more that they are taking bets off the rally and they are not expecting a rally. It is not capitulation. It is a repositioning in the european market. An extension of the opec, nonopec agreement . Data like this really puts the nail in the coffin in terms of the need to do more, extend, coordinate further. It depends on how far opec wants to go. You can only cut so much. They can keep the oil price at 50 indefinitely if you cut enough. The question is, how far do they want to go . The fall of a president. South koreas highest court says that parks impeachment is illegal. All the judges ruled against her. She has lost all her powers and more important for her, her immunity. Elections are coming up. The justice explaining to the public why President Park geunhye had to be removed from office. They were saying that President Park had continuously violated law. S. That she had hidden chancellors influence in affairs. Chancellor choi soonsil is a close confidant of park geunhye, and they were accused of colluding in order to get bribes, and also abusing President Parks power. So the court is saying that President Park violated the constitution, that she abused power, the president ial power for the chancellors interest, among other charges. Scarlet welcome back to best bloomberg best. I am scarlet fu. This week, Francine Lacqua sat down for an exclusive interview with jpmorgans ceo, jamie dimon. She asked him what will President Trump do for the economy . Here is what is positive, look at the policies, not the tweets. Look at the people on the ground, top professionals in the military, defense secretary, secretary of treasury, serious people with deep knowledge and deep experience. And their mission is to have a growth agenda, and that agenda is reducing corporate taxes, starting to build better infrastructure, which we desperately need, reducing some of the Regulatory Regimes that have held back growth. I think it is good for all americans. Middleclass, job creation. Business confidence has jumped a lot. The more than it has jumped before and our life, probably because of the progrowth agenda. Do you have any doubt he will be able to follow through . I have been watching politics like you for years. The republicans have the house, the senate, 30 plus governorships. They have a better chance of getting those things done. I dont know the exact timetable. , the euphoria from the positive growth from probusiness is there. I have pretty high confidence against done. Remember, the democrats acknowledged corporate taxes too high in america. Everyone wants good infrastructure. They will not waste money because they are against bridges, tunnels, roads. Most people acknowledge now that it is time to look at the Regulatory Regime and recalibrated and make sure it is both conducive to growth and does not hurt Small Business formation and things like that. I have been speaking to a lot of european banking ceos who are terrified that if donald trump deregulates wall street too much, you are not on a level Playing Field with europe. While there is criticism, at the end of the day, Steve Mnuchin and others, they will work out things that make sense for everybody. We you not want an unlevel Playing Field. American banks have far more capital. The fact is i want the european banks to thrive. If the european banks do not thrive, europe will not thrive. And so to me, the regulators should really look at those things and help european banks compete and thrive to grow their economies. In much more important europe and the United States, because they finance 70 or 80 of the economy. United states is 25 . The United States is 25 . The rest is done through Capital Market activity. How do you rate the european Banking System at the moment . We have tried to help the italian banks. I dont know if you think it is successful or not. Deutsche bank is trying to raise capital. Are we over the worst . We were that close to fixing it. We could have got it done. I hope we get it done. The banking promises not as big as others say. It took up 40 billion in bad loans. There was so much on the balance sheets, so much already written off. So, i would like to see the banks first of all, in the old days, banks were going paneuropean. Because of the crisis and new rules, they have been going back. I think the right way is a paneuropean regulator. It is better, more diversified, creates more efficiencies in the system. I think you will eventually see mergers and acquisitions in european banks again. Will be euro implode . They are devoted to keeping it together. They are devoted to moving forward. These problems are creating some of these concerns among the populations. Theyre going to have an election in france soon. The worst case is that someone major decides to leave the Monetary Union at some point, and that is hugely disruptive. Scarlet plenty of interviews ahead on bloomberg best. Socgen ceo braces for european transition. A former fed official says it is high time for a fed hike. And, we make the rounds at the geneva motor show. Wilbur ross talks trade. The trade secretary talks about why nafta needs a fix. There were some things that were missed. There were some things in it that were not done correctly to begin with. Scarlet this is bloomberg. In the oil market, goldman reiterated its outlook for crude in new york to rise to 67. 50 a barrel in the Second Quarter before declining to 55 the rest of the year. We will talk about the demand pull and the supply response. Walk me through where we are with both. When we think on the Positive Side of the ledger, we have seen two things. An upward revision to 2016 demand levels. Yeah. Positive macroy data that suggests there is upside growth risk to demand in 2017. Also on the positive ledger, you have had core opec, saudi and the rest of the gulf states, compliance much better than we thought. That is on the positive ledger. On the negative ledger, in the u. S. , supply response gaining momentum faster than we thought to higher price. Two reasons. One is productivity gains, and access to capital. You put it all together, we did not change our forecast because the positive things offset the negative things and we and up in the same place. We are confident you will see those inventory draws come to scarlet that was jeff curry at Goldman Sachs explaining his bullish outlook for oil. On that same program, Jonathan Ferro spoke exclusively with the ceo of Societe Generale. Despite elections that could cloud the eurozone he is keeping a positive outlook. A transition,e at but to what . A reinforcement of the eurozone, and spend time precisely to say to politicians, strategically about the next 10 years. When you look strategically at the next five years and the problems, what is the Biggest Issue for Societe Generale right now . The series of elections and lack of reforms, one. Ecb,e lack of reforms, the two . Which is a bigger headache . A guarantee that there is uncertainty, but it does not translate so much in an economy climate. The economy is doing relatively well in the beginning of year and the eurozone, and france in particular. Beyond this, the normalization of Interest Rates is important Going Forward because it would mean you would have more growth. Yeah. You will have also maybe the additional political steps to help the ecb to normalize policy. For us, for our p l, exiting rates would be a good thing. The other question, many banks are coming out and saying european financials deserve a lower valuation against u. S. Peers because of complexities of and the situation in the economies as well. Things are relatively weak. Do you believe that . That there should be a cheaper by you wish and applied to your bank compared with similar u. S. Institution . It is a too short review. It is fair to say the u. S. In the shortterm will benefit from a slightly more dynamic economy and Interest Rate environment. In europe, in particular, the eurozone, we have more work ahead. We have more work to build a Financial Service which is more balanced between Capital Markets and banks. We have more years may be to wait for the full normalization of the monetary policy. But Going Forward, there is also a formidable opportunity for european players to take advantage of precisely this construction, which would be more completed than what we see today, so i remain optimistic. I see stepbystep more and more positive steps in the european banking sector. Over in the u. S. , Health Care Regulation dominated headlines this week, but investors are waiting anxiously for the Trump Administration to move forward on trade policy and and for structure plans. We discussed these issues with several guests on Bloomberg Television, including commerce secretary, wilbur ross. He told david westin where he stands on nafta. It is an old treaty. Our economy is very different from what it was when that treaty was entered into. You did not have the whole digital economy. Services were not as important as they are now. And further, we have now had decades of experience with the treaty. Very hard to get a several thousand page document right at inception, and there were some things in it that were missed, things that were not done correctly to begin with. And a lot of things that might have been ok back then, but dont work now. So there is a lot to fix. And both the canadian government and Mexican Government have said things like that. It is an old treaty. There is room for negotiation. There are gives and takes we can have. That is one model. Another model is we have a substantial trade deficit with mexico we have to fix. Which is driving the department of commerce . Both. As you go into these negotiations, how mindful are you are the possibly of what the markets talk about as a trade war . Were sanctions would be taken that might escalate, go to wto, reciprocal sanctions, how mindful are you of that danger . Well, we are in a trade war. We have been in a trade war for decades. Thats why we have a deficit. The difference is that our troops are now coming to the ramparts. That is the only change. But it sounds like it is going to be a shooting war now. It is not a shooting war. If people know you have the big bazooka, you probably dont have to use it. Do you have a view on the border adjustment tax . Yes, my view is that i am studying it carefully as it evolves. And as we get to understand more of the intricate details of it and how it interacts with everything else, that is when we will take a position. Help me here with the american interpretation of international trade. How do we get back to a multilateral dialogue, or the wto as one example, is that dead . Right. Youre asking me political questions. I think the wto, like all institutions, is not perfect, but it has done a good job. Maybe there are places where we have gone too far, places where we havent, but it seems to me that the wto is still a place to do business. The notion of doing bilateral trade negotiations seems much less attractive from an economic point of view. Olivia blanchard and the border tax, please . On the border tax, i am not against of the border tax. It can do good things and provide incentives for firms to declare profits where they take place. You will decrease the shell game we have seen. It is not a solution to everything. One thing i have heard which is wrong is that the border tax will be paid by the farmers. It will not be paid by the farmers. We make money on the border tax as long as we have trade deficits. One day if we have trade deficits now, we will have to have trade surpluses. And then what is positive tax revenue now, will be tax spending on negative taxes in the future. So it is basically is very much a form of debt finance, which will be financed by the u. S. Taxpayers. So the notion that foreigners are going to pay for it, that is truly wrong. We are optimistic on growth. But the one thing we are going to do in the white house is we are going to set very realistic growth projections. We have actually looked back at all the prior administrations in their beginning and saw what they put out for gdp forecast at the beginning of their administration, and none of them got close to meeting their gdp projections. We will actually put out gdp think we canhat we not only meet, but we will beat. We would rather under promise and over deliver than overpromise. We think it is relatively easy to do in the part of the cycle we are in. And seeing the activity we have seen from ceos and the fact we will be rolling back regulation, bringing new tax policies in the United States, we are very optimistic about the gdp growth we think is coming. If you look at the projections out there right now for gdp growth this year, it is something up to 2. 3 , 2. 4 . Would you expect something materially better than that . Remember, we are already in the middle of this year. So in moving 2. 3 or 2. 4 projection much higher, it will be tough to move it dramatically higher this year, but yes, we would like to outperform that prediction this year. But as we grow over the next year or two, we think we can substantially improve on that number as we get tax reform done in the second half of this year, as we continue to get the jobs created from the companies that committed job growth to us in the future. We think growing the gdp forward is going to be relatively inline with our projections. And our projections, as i said, they are cautiously optimistic and we think we can outperform them. So, yes, we will continue to see growth, but remember this year is starting to be banked in, but baked in, but we will outperform where some of the projections are. Scarlet the fomc holds its march meeting next year and all signs point to with fed increase. One expert says it is about time. He joined daybreak asia to dig deeper into the upcoming decision. You say the fed is running out of excuses not to raise rates . Is there any left . Well, you know, they have been pretty creative in the last couple of years at times, coming up with reasons why they cannot raise rates. I think they have just about run the gamut of those. At this point, particularly given the signals they have already sent, they would do their credibility a lot of damage if they did not do it now. The other very important part of this twoday meeting, march 14 and 15, is that the fed comes out with its summary of economic projections, the famous dot plots. There was a narrow consensus in for three increases in 2017. You thinkmber one, do that consensus might get bigger or even move to four rate hikes . What would you be voting for . What would your dot look like if you were there . Of ondot was always kind the high end, but i think there would be more consensus closer to three. I think they will be cautious. What we have seen it since the election in the markets and performance of the economy is, in fact, the market has gone up. The forecast looks better. But there is a lot more uncertainty around it. In other words, what policies the Trump Administration will actually deliver, what they will look like, how effective they are going to be. Nobody really knows for sure. I think what the fed sees is that there is a lot of uncertainty. But in fact, what they call the risks, are to the upside. That is what they see, how to interpret what they are doing. Even know their forecast may not move very much. Scarlet youre watching bloomberg best. I am scarlet fu. The worlds leading Auto Executives gathered this week at the geneva motor show. Matt miller spoke with many of them about challenges facing their companies and the industry as a whole. Matt asked the nissan chairman how the psa purchase of opel and vauxhall will affect his business. Frankly, i do not think it will affect anything. I have always said that the industry is moving toward consolidation. You will see more and more players trying to gain, in terms of scale. It is logical, because of all the investments we need to face in terms of products and technologies, geographic footprint, even variety of your product offered, that is difficult if youre a small car manufacturer to be facing the future. So what is happening is something which was predicted, forecasted, and in my opinion, already integrated in our own strategy. And you have already gotten involved in consolidation yourself with mitsubishi. You plan on going any further . Is there anybody else you are looking at . Every single opportunity we have to grow intrinsically or by having newcomers, we are going to do it. For a very simple reason, because we know how to play scale. We know how to transform scale into a higher level of competitiveness, whether it is about costs, technology, or it is about quality. So because we know how to do that, we obviously want to play to the maximum. The mitsubishi operation has been done in a very short period of time. This is something that will be adding to the performance of mitsubishi and to the performance of renault nissan. Brexit has a huge impact. We are the number one player in the market. 30 of our european sales are in a u. K. Just the weakening of the currency, of sterling, is about a 600 million headwind. And our overall profit base is at 1. 2 billion. So it has a huge impact on us. The good news is our team, we have been in business 100 years. Issues how to adjust to we are seeing, like a weaker sterling, things we can do about it. It just means we will have to be more diligent on our costs. What does that mean . Are you going to have to lose jobs in england . No, no, but there are certainly more pressures on the cost base for the company. That means that we have to make sure material costs, logistics costs, distribution costs are as efficient as they can be. And there are things we can do. We made tremendous progress last year, year over year, on cost, and we just need to do it again this year. Rover theis for land most important market. That means we not only sell finished goods into europe, but we also buy components, parts out of europe. Giving that, we need free and fair trade. So what about the plants, the production . Do you have any special agreements with the British Government . Do you think they can offer you something . I mean you have to stay, obviously, but concessions are being made to other carmakers. We do not see concessions. And we have a fixed operational footprint, and we cannot change operational footprints quickly, therefore the product has to decide, and at the end of the day, the customer will decide. Scarlet also this week, Bloomberg Television focused on Critical Issues of opportunity and diversity in business on International Womens day. Women who are global exports, leaders, and influencers, joined us to share their experiences and perspectives. Lets start with one of japans foremost female politicians, the governor of tokyo. She told us how she evaluates the progress of women in japan. Well, there is little improvement since the new policies toward women are mixed have been taken. But unfortunately, i should say that the speed is not so fast yet. Two steps advancing, and one step going behind. You are one of them more popular politicians in japan. Would you say that the country is becoming more open to female wards leadership . Would, i think so, and i like to believe so. I hope that as many women as possible to run for the assembly, and the election will take place in july, coming july. By selecting as many women legislators or women politicians at the local Tokyo Assembly will surely make tokyo change. Less than. 1 of u. S. Mutual Fund Managers are women, and according to morningstar, that is lower than the rest of the world, where on average it is one in five. Why is the u. S. So far behind . The problem is twofold, from two sources. Part of it is a pool problem. We do not have enough women in the academic arenas that actually fuel Portfolio Management. We see women underrepresented, particularly in stem, science, engineering, mathematics. The second issue we have is a matching problem. If youre are a young woman coming into finance today, you actually dont see a a lot of successful women Portfolio Managers that you can actually relate to. So, you know, it is a complicated question. But i think those two things, really the pool problem and the matching problem are probably the most important sources or barriers to really seeing womens presence increased in Portfolio Management in general. With deregulation coming for the financial industry, with this reflation trade gathering momentum, will Financial Companies now have more to look forward to in terms of Growth Prospects . Put aside gender equality initiatives they have put in days areause brighter ahead for the industry overall . We certainly hope not. If you look at female representation at all levels of corporation, it is pitiful. If you look at ceos, it is less than 5 . If you look at boards, less than 20 . If you look at senior leadership, it is less than 25 . We do not think those numbers are good enough. What you find, companies with more gender diversity perform better. They have better return on equity. They are better managed from a risk standpoint. And we think that hopefully, finally, Corporate America has woken up to that. And of course you guys are doing something about that. You are going to companies you have investments in and talking to them and saying, you have to to do something about putting more women on board. We are, indeed. Roughly 25 of the russell 2000 does not have a single woman on their board. And fewer than 60 have 50 or more female representation. So we will be engaging with those boards and look for them to make meaningful change and improve the diversity on their board. I wanted to bring up some proprietary data we have put together here at bloomberg. It is the bloomberg Financial Services gender equality index. We track Financial Firms that have disclosure, best in class policies and practices in the general quality space. Scarlet there are 30,000 functions on the bloomberg and we enjoy showing you our favorites on Bloomberg Television. Maybe they will become your favorites. Here is another one you will find useful, quic. It will take you to our quick takes where you can find timely topics. Here is a quick take from this week. The palestinians must recognize the jewish state. The election of donald trump has emboldened israeli Prime Minister benjamin netanyahu. Just after trumps inauguration, netanyahus government announced it would build the first new settlements and a quarter century in the west bank. Breaking decades of u. S. Policy, the Trump Administration has said it does not view existing settlements as an obstacle to peace in the region. But responding to israels announcement, u. S. Officials have said that expanding settlements may not be helpful in achieving peace. I would like to see you hold back on settlements for a little bit. We will work something out. Here is the situation. The west bank is populated mostly by palestinians who hope to make it part of an independent state, palestine. Since israel conquered the territory half a century ago, israeli numbers have increased. Since 1995, the population of settlers has grown four times faster than israel itself. And whether hawkish or dovish, every Israeli Government has supported the expansion of settlements. So why do israelis choose to settle in the west bank . There are three main reasons. One, religion. Many religious jews point to the bible, which says the land was promised to them by god. Two, security. Some israelis think settlements act as a defense against the attacks like the kind that occurred in 1948 when arab countries invaded israel. Three, affordability. Others just like the relatively High Standard of living made possible by government subsidies for settlements. Yet according to International Courts of justice, israeli settlements are in breach of international law. Here is the argument. Barriers, buffer zones, and the presence of Israeli Soldiers to secure settlers make life difficult for palestinians. Both palestinians and some israelis argue that settlements play into a bigger problem. They prevent peace by eating up and dividing the land. Left for the establishment of a viable palestinian state. Any Peace Agreement would likely hinge on israel taking on the tough task of removing tens of thousands of settlers from the west bank. Israel has removed settlers as it withdrew from occupied territory in the past, but those were smaller numbers. Even if every single settlement were to be dismantled tomorrow, peace still would not be attainable without both sides acknowledging uncomfortable truths and making difficult choices. Choices such as where to draw borders, how to share jerusalem, and how to ensure each sides security. Scarlet that was just one of the many quick takes you can find on the bloomberg. You can also find them at bloomberg. Com along with latest Business News and analysis 24 hour the day. That will be all for bloomberg best this week. Thank you for watching. I am scarlet fu. This is bloomberg. David the Live Audience does not intimidate you, right . Oprah not a bit. David no . Ok. You came from very modest circumstances. Oprah modest is not the word. David very few people in the world are known by one name. Oprah they started me with a campaign called what is an oprah . David you are a big shareholder in Weight Watchers. Oprah that is a sign, when Weight Watchers says, let us help you. [laughter] david have you ever thought you could actually run for president . Oprah i thought, oh, gee, i dont have the experience. I dont know enough. I dont know and now i am thinking, oh . [laughter] would you fix your tie, please . David well, people wouldnt recognize me if my tie was fixed, but ok. Just leave it this way. Alright