WEBVTT - Arctic Drilling and Cricket in the US 0:00:01.280 --> 0:00:05.119 You're listening to the Bloomberg Opinion podcast count US Saturdays 0:00:05.120 --> 0:00:08.280 at one and seven pm Eastern on Bloomberg dot Com, 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:11.479 the iHeartRadio app and the Bloomberg Business App, or listen 0:00:11.520 --> 0:00:13.760 on demand wherever you get your podcasts. 0:00:15.800 --> 0:00:19.520 Welcome to Bloomberg Opinion I Amy Morris. This has so 0:00:19.680 --> 0:00:22.920 far been a scorching hot summer throughout much of the 0:00:22.920 --> 0:00:26.800 world that's got everyone packing a bag for a quick getaway. 0:00:27.160 --> 0:00:30.680 We'll talk to analysts who say, enjoy it while you can, 0:00:31.480 --> 0:00:34.640 and if sports is your thing, a new cricket league 0:00:34.880 --> 0:00:38.680 in the US could prove to be wildly popular. It's 0:00:38.680 --> 0:00:42.080 only just launched and it's already garnered a huge following. 0:00:42.720 --> 0:00:44.919 And as hot as it's been, you really do need 0:00:44.960 --> 0:00:48.559 to stay hydrated. But what's in that diet soda or 0:00:48.600 --> 0:00:52.919 sugar free coffee? We'll drink in the latest health guidance 0:00:52.960 --> 0:00:58.320 on artificial sweeteners from the World Health Organization. Let's get started, though, 0:00:58.360 --> 0:01:01.760 with a trip to the Arctic. A coalition of environmental 0:01:01.840 --> 0:01:06.440 organizations is endorsing President Biden's run for re election. It 0:01:06.560 --> 0:01:09.679 also comes as the president is facing criticism for recent 0:01:09.840 --> 0:01:14.679 environmental decisions like approving oil drilling projects on protected lands 0:01:14.720 --> 0:01:19.360 in Arctic Alaska. At the league's annual Capital Dinner in Washington, 0:01:19.440 --> 0:01:23.400 d C. President Biden said he knows his administration has 0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:25.160 more to do on the environment. 0:01:25.280 --> 0:01:28.479 Get into one hundred percent clean energy by twenty thirty five, 0:01:29.480 --> 0:01:32.920 moving all electric vehicles in the future of mege America 0:01:33.280 --> 0:01:37.360 only five hundred thousand EV charging station coast to coast, 0:01:38.520 --> 0:01:42.280 conserving thirty percent of our lands and waters by twenty thirty. 0:01:42.120 --> 0:01:44.360 But as we are about to learn, drilling in the 0:01:44.480 --> 0:01:47.680 Arctic is no small endeavor. Let's find out more with 0:01:47.720 --> 0:01:52.120 Bloomberg opinion columnist Liam Denning, who covers energy and commodities, 0:01:52.520 --> 0:01:56.000 and he joins us. Now. Now, Liam, you had mentioned 0:01:56.000 --> 0:01:58.440 in your column that someone described to you that drilling 0:01:58.480 --> 0:02:02.080 for oil in the Arctic is like drilling on the moon. 0:02:02.440 --> 0:02:06.840 Tell me about that, Well, you certainly appreciate that when 0:02:06.920 --> 0:02:10.760 you actually go to the north slope of Alaska. So 0:02:10.840 --> 0:02:13.000 the way I went was I flew into Anchorage and 0:02:13.040 --> 0:02:17.520 then took another flight two hours north. It's a pretty 0:02:17.600 --> 0:02:21.520 epic commute for the all workers who had that way. 0:02:21.600 --> 0:02:25.960 You fly past Denali, over the Alaskan interior, and then 0:02:26.000 --> 0:02:28.320 over the Brooks Range, which is kind of where the 0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:33.119 Arctic Circle starts, and so the trees end and you 0:02:33.120 --> 0:02:34.800 come out on the other side of the Brooks Range 0:02:34.840 --> 0:02:39.880 and you're met with this, you know, quite unique flat 0:02:40.000 --> 0:02:45.560 landscape of you know, lots of snow and ice, tundra, 0:02:47.120 --> 0:02:52.200 strange polygonal pools that form on the surface. And then 0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:54.000 as you get closer to the coast, which is where 0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:57.480 the all fields are, you begin to spot these small 0:02:57.600 --> 0:03:02.640 kind of outposts of industrial activity. Although they're on land, 0:03:02.880 --> 0:03:06.160 they what they look like to me was really almost 0:03:06.240 --> 0:03:11.520 like an archipelago of islands. Their man made gravel paths 0:03:12.120 --> 0:03:17.919 where work takes place, where the rigs operate. But there's 0:03:17.960 --> 0:03:20.799 some gravel roads there, but they're almost they're largely cut off. 0:03:20.840 --> 0:03:24.359 And I would say when when when that oor man 0:03:24.440 --> 0:03:27.359 described it as drilling for oil on the Moon, I mean, 0:03:27.400 --> 0:03:29.880 in some ways he did mean that that the landscape 0:03:30.000 --> 0:03:32.680 is very odd, and you know, it's very cold, obviously, 0:03:32.760 --> 0:03:35.880 particularly during winter. But I think what he was really 0:03:35.920 --> 0:03:39.880 getting at was just how remote it feels. And when 0:03:39.880 --> 0:03:42.200 you're there, you get this sense that you're quite cut 0:03:42.200 --> 0:03:43.520 off from the outside world. 0:03:44.480 --> 0:03:47.040 You spending time up there have been able to file 0:03:47.160 --> 0:03:51.360 several columns for the Bloomberg Terminal about some of your experiences, 0:03:51.680 --> 0:03:55.240 and it's all based on climate change in geopolitics, changing 0:03:55.320 --> 0:03:57.880 the strategic landscape of the High North. So how is 0:03:57.920 --> 0:04:01.400 this now impacting the search for oil and gas? 0:04:01.640 --> 0:04:06.720 Yeah, so if you maybe a little history will help. 0:04:06.840 --> 0:04:11.760 So oil was discovered in large quantities on the North 0:04:11.800 --> 0:04:17.560 Slope at the end of the sixties, but because of 0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:24.960 lingering unresolved issues around Native Alaskans claims on the land, 0:04:25.520 --> 0:04:29.280 and because of at that time the recent oil spill 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:35.159 of Santa Barbara in California, development of the oil fields 0:04:35.200 --> 0:04:37.919 that did not go ahead. They were mired in legal 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:43.200 disputes and environmental disputes. What changed things was the nineteen 0:04:43.240 --> 0:04:46.960 seventy three oil shock. So suddenly it became imperative to 0:04:47.160 --> 0:04:52.760 develop US oil resources to help offset the power of OPEC. 0:04:53.520 --> 0:04:56.880 And so what you saw in nineteen seventy three was 0:04:56.920 --> 0:05:02.320 that Congress effectively force the construction of the Trans Alaska Pipeline, 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:05.200 effectively ended all the legal disputes via an Act of 0:05:05.240 --> 0:05:08.960 Congress and the building of that pipeline, which takes oil 0:05:09.000 --> 0:05:12.640 from the North Slope down to Valdez on Alaska's ice 0:05:12.720 --> 0:05:19.600 free southern coast that enabled development. And so you see, 0:05:19.720 --> 0:05:24.400 although Alaska and oil is not necessarily the cheapest or 0:05:24.400 --> 0:05:26.960 the easiest to get, there is a lot of it 0:05:27.480 --> 0:05:32.440 and it's on home turf, so strategic considerations allowed for 0:05:32.560 --> 0:05:34.880 its development, and in some ways we're seeing a bit 0:05:34.920 --> 0:05:40.320 of that again today. You know, if you think about 0:05:40.400 --> 0:05:47.480 where oil development is on the Alaska North Slope, now, 0:05:47.600 --> 0:05:51.240 you know, we've really had several decades of decline in Alaska. 0:05:51.279 --> 0:05:53.320 It used to be producing more than two million barrels 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:56.880 a day. It's now down to about four hundred thousand 0:05:57.000 --> 0:06:05.080 or so barrels a day. But we saw President Biden's 0:06:05.080 --> 0:06:10.320 administration recently approved the Willow Project, their highly controversial project. 0:06:11.279 --> 0:06:15.080 Certainly the Biden administration's body language was that it didn't 0:06:15.120 --> 0:06:19.839 really want to approve it. But I think Russia's invasion 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:23.240 of Ukraine and what that did to energy markets last 0:06:23.320 --> 0:06:27.240 year changed the equation in kind of an echo of 0:06:27.279 --> 0:06:29.280 what happened in the early nineteen seventies. 0:06:29.920 --> 0:06:33.240 Bloomberg opinion columnist Liam Denning on the booms and busts 0:06:33.240 --> 0:06:37.440 of drilling for oil in Alaska that it does seem 0:06:37.480 --> 0:06:41.039 like a pendulum swinging there. Liam and there's plenty of 0:06:41.080 --> 0:06:44.200 oil and gas in the Arctic. There's also this very 0:06:44.240 --> 0:06:47.560 loud argument for leaving it there, which makes perfect sense. 0:06:47.600 --> 0:06:50.880 But is anybody listening to that? Because even if President Biden, 0:06:50.920 --> 0:06:53.320 who as you described, didn't seem like a real hundred 0:06:53.360 --> 0:06:56.839 percent wanted to and still yet said okay, let's just 0:06:56.880 --> 0:06:58.839 go ahead and do it, is there a race to 0:06:58.960 --> 0:07:02.039 drill there? Is there an overwhelming necessity? Is that the 0:07:02.120 --> 0:07:04.160 lesser of two evils walk me through that? 0:07:05.440 --> 0:07:09.360 So I think it's that is the absolutely central question 0:07:09.800 --> 0:07:12.080 about all of this. I think the first thing to 0:07:12.120 --> 0:07:14.800 say is that when although there is a lot of 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:17.480 oil and gas believed to be under the Arctic, and 0:07:17.520 --> 0:07:20.840 not not just in you know, under US territory, but 0:07:21.000 --> 0:07:26.040 obviously also under Russia, Canada and Norway other Arctic countries, 0:07:29.720 --> 0:07:32.320 I'm very skeptical whenever people talk about a scramble for 0:07:32.360 --> 0:07:37.120 anything in the Arctic, because nothing happens there quickly, because 0:07:37.160 --> 0:07:40.960 of the harsh environment, because of the remoteness. You know, 0:07:41.080 --> 0:07:43.760 just to give you a sense, most of the oil 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:48.760 and gas that's believed to be in under Alaska is 0:07:48.800 --> 0:07:53.840 actually under the waters offshore. A lot of that hasn't 0:07:53.880 --> 0:07:57.400 been developed because it's very hard to develop oil and 0:07:57.440 --> 0:08:01.200 gas in a sea where you know, suddenly everything freezes 0:08:01.320 --> 0:08:05.280 up and your platform is surrounded by ice. I did 0:08:05.320 --> 0:08:09.200 see from the air one project there, the North Star project, 0:08:09.200 --> 0:08:13.040 it's just off the coast near Prude Bay. From awarding 0:08:13.080 --> 0:08:16.240 the lease to the first barrel of oil being produced 0:08:16.240 --> 0:08:19.840 from that field, it took twenty two years, and most 0:08:19.880 --> 0:08:25.040 companies simply cannot take that kind of duration risk or 0:08:25.040 --> 0:08:27.600 the cost involved to do that. So I think the 0:08:27.640 --> 0:08:30.840 first thing to say is there's unlikely to be a 0:08:30.880 --> 0:08:33.880 scramble for oil and gas in the Arctic, just because 0:08:34.080 --> 0:08:37.440 it's too hard to do anything and it takes too long. Now, 0:08:38.200 --> 0:08:41.240 on the other question of you know, why would we 0:08:41.280 --> 0:08:44.040 develop it at all when we're staring down the barrel 0:08:44.080 --> 0:08:48.640 of climate change, I think Alaska symbolizes, you know, a 0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:53.920 broader issue for all major energy consuming countries, which is 0:08:54.000 --> 0:09:00.240 balancing that need to address this inexorable issue of climate 0:09:00.360 --> 0:09:05.080 change with immediate issues of energy security. And so, you know, 0:09:05.200 --> 0:09:10.000 just taking it back to President Biden and Willow, you know, 0:09:10.120 --> 0:09:12.960 last year when all price is spiked on the back 0:09:13.000 --> 0:09:16.200 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. You know, we saw 0:09:16.240 --> 0:09:20.320 in nominal terms, we saw the highest average gasoline prices 0:09:20.360 --> 0:09:24.680 this country has ever seen, and in response, the President 0:09:24.800 --> 0:09:27.280 released barrels one hundred and eighty million barrels from the 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:30.559 Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Now, I think it would have been 0:09:30.679 --> 0:09:36.200 very difficult politically at least for him to then turn 0:09:36.280 --> 0:09:40.240 around and say, well, we need to release these emergency 0:09:40.280 --> 0:09:44.200 barrels to deal with our immediate needs, but I'm not 0:09:44.240 --> 0:09:48.520 going to approve this project that actually provides US based 0:09:49.120 --> 0:09:55.720 oil to meet our country's needs. And I think, you know, 0:09:55.760 --> 0:09:57.600 Willow isn't going to be the last time that we 0:09:57.720 --> 0:10:01.200 faced that dilemma, because the fact is, we have a 0:10:01.280 --> 0:10:06.959 system right now that is still overwhelmingly dependent on fossil fuels. 0:10:07.400 --> 0:10:10.840 Their share of our energy system is coming down, but 0:10:10.880 --> 0:10:15.160 it's coming down pretty gradually. And really, when we talk about, 0:10:15.320 --> 0:10:18.040 you know, an energy transition, the main thing we need 0:10:18.080 --> 0:10:22.440 to transition is our demand is how do we use energy? 0:10:22.679 --> 0:10:26.640 You know, if you cut off oil supply and cause 0:10:26.679 --> 0:10:31.080 prices to spike, yes you will. You'll cause people to 0:10:31.120 --> 0:10:34.760 change their behavior, but in a very disruptive and importantly 0:10:34.800 --> 0:10:39.400 politically unhelpful way. And you know, even for a president 0:10:39.480 --> 0:10:42.720 like Joe Biden, who wants to transform the economy in 0:10:42.760 --> 0:10:46.800 a decarbonized way. He has to consider, you know, how 0:10:46.840 --> 0:10:49.200 elections are going to go every two years in order 0:10:49.240 --> 0:10:50.440 to keep that project going. 0:10:50.880 --> 0:10:54.160 Liam Denning is a Bloomberg Opinion colonist. He covers energy 0:10:54.240 --> 0:10:56.600 and commodities. Want you to stay with us. We're going 0:10:56.640 --> 0:10:59.200 to leave the frosty cold temperatures of the Arctic for 0:10:59.240 --> 0:11:03.320 the scorch heat of this summer travel season. You're listening 0:11:03.360 --> 0:11:04.439 to Bloomberg Opinion. 0:11:11.800 --> 0:11:15.599 You're listening to the Bloomberg Opinion podcast. Catch us Saturdays 0:11:15.640 --> 0:11:18.760 at one and seven pm Eastern on Bloomberg dot Com, 0:11:18.840 --> 0:11:21.960 the iHeartRadio app, and the Bloomberg Business App, or listen 0:11:22.040 --> 0:11:24.280 on demand wherever you get your podcasts. 0:11:26.120 --> 0:11:28.960 You're listening to Bloomberg Opinion. I'm Amy Morris, and we 0:11:29.000 --> 0:11:32.480 are deep into the summer travel season. Higher prices don't 0:11:32.520 --> 0:11:35.640 seem to be slowing anyone down. Families are packing up 0:11:35.679 --> 0:11:38.320 the car, couples are booking the flights, and the next 0:11:38.360 --> 0:11:41.440 few months are expected to be a blowout for jet setting. 0:11:41.640 --> 0:11:45.040 But maybe you want to enjoy it while it lasts, 0:11:45.600 --> 0:11:48.320 because this could all be a prelude to customers raining 0:11:48.360 --> 0:11:52.520 in their wanderlust. We welcome Bloomberg opinion columnist Andrea Felstad, 0:11:52.559 --> 0:11:56.760 who covers consumer goods and the retail industry. Andrea, tell 0:11:56.840 --> 0:11:59.320 us what you've found, because right now it looks like 0:11:59.440 --> 0:12:02.440 nothing is stopping us. We've got all this pent up 0:12:02.559 --> 0:12:05.200 vacation time energy and we have to burn it. 0:12:05.720 --> 0:12:08.160 That's right, that is still the case. I mean, you know, 0:12:08.400 --> 0:12:12.760 travel is still very much in demand. Some research from 0:12:12.760 --> 0:12:15.600 PwC earlier in the year found that, you know, customers 0:12:15.600 --> 0:12:18.439 would cut back on like many many other things before 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:21.760 they cut back on the holiday. That being said, we 0:12:22.000 --> 0:12:27.080 are starting to see a few little indications of cracks 0:12:27.120 --> 0:12:30.920 in that demand now. PwC did some follow up research 0:12:31.000 --> 0:12:34.400 in June and it's really interesting because one of the 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:40.439 things they've noticed is that Britain's are booking later. I mean, 0:12:40.480 --> 0:12:43.480 this has been a trend ever since the pandemic that 0:12:43.520 --> 0:12:46.679 people hold off from booking later. So it has been 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:49.880 an ongoing trend. But you would think by now it 0:12:49.920 --> 0:12:53.880 would start to normalize. What we've seen is actually the opposite, 0:12:53.960 --> 0:12:57.640 that we're starting to see more late booking, and this 0:12:57.760 --> 0:13:03.240 is because of uncertainty over household finances. I mean, as 0:13:03.280 --> 0:13:06.400 in the US. You know, also in Britain we've had, 0:13:06.440 --> 0:13:08.760 like you know, a cost of living crisis. We've had 0:13:09.120 --> 0:13:12.920 high energy, food bills. They are starting to sort of 0:13:13.000 --> 0:13:16.000 moderate a little bit. The thing that is now coming 0:13:16.080 --> 0:13:20.200 up that is worrying consumer goods companies it is the 0:13:20.280 --> 0:13:23.400 interest rate environment. You've got a million people who need 0:13:23.440 --> 0:13:28.880 to refinance their mortgage this year. They're facing significantly higher 0:13:29.480 --> 0:13:33.640 costs and so you know, some of them are actually 0:13:34.280 --> 0:13:38.000 waiting to see if they should book the holiday. The 0:13:38.040 --> 0:13:40.480 other thing is, and this is the case in the US, 0:13:40.520 --> 0:13:44.079 there was also some research from destination analysts and we've 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:47.160 seen a similar thing in the US about sticker shop 0:13:47.160 --> 0:13:51.560 for prices. You know, you've probably noted that holidays have 0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:54.480 gone up. You know, holidays and flights have become much 0:13:54.520 --> 0:13:57.880 more expensive, and some consumers are holding off to see 0:13:57.880 --> 0:14:00.840 can I afford to go away and will the price 0:14:00.960 --> 0:14:04.360 come down. They're waiting, you know, perhaps you know, a 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:07.559 last minute deal, or they're saving up to book. They're 0:14:07.640 --> 0:14:12.000 also waiting because last year and I think in the 0:14:12.080 --> 0:14:15.320 US you've had some this year, but in Europe last 0:14:15.400 --> 0:14:18.080 year we had really bad disruption to travel. So some 0:14:18.120 --> 0:14:20.440 people are waiting to see if there's going to be 0:14:20.440 --> 0:14:24.840 a repeat of that this year. Before they booked their holidays. 0:14:24.720 --> 0:14:27.440 I wanted to ask you about that. I remember last year, 0:14:28.120 --> 0:14:31.400 all the delays and the canceled flights. I actually wound 0:14:31.480 --> 0:14:33.520 up getting tangled up and all of that. It was 0:14:33.560 --> 0:14:36.760 a nightmare. So and just to read book a flight. 0:14:36.920 --> 0:14:40.880 So my question is Number one, did that damage that relationship? 0:14:40.960 --> 0:14:42.840 Is that part of the reason why people are kind 0:14:42.880 --> 0:14:45.800 of holding back from booking these flights because there's a 0:14:45.800 --> 0:14:49.760 little trust issue there. And number two is all of 0:14:49.800 --> 0:14:52.240 this something we sort of view through the lens of 0:14:52.320 --> 0:14:55.960 the pandemic. Is that the yardstick now that we are 0:14:56.040 --> 0:14:59.120 measuring all of this by pre pandemic and post pandemic. 0:15:01.200 --> 0:15:04.520 So thirteen percent of the people that were holding off 0:15:04.560 --> 0:15:09.400 from traveling, according to PwC, was in case sorry, seventeen 0:15:09.440 --> 0:15:13.120 percent was if there is disruption. Thirteen percent was if 0:15:13.160 --> 0:15:16.600 there are travel restrictions. But so seventeen percent of the 0:15:16.640 --> 0:15:20.000 people that have that I haven't booked are doing so 0:15:20.200 --> 0:15:22.880 because they're waiting to see whether there is that disruption. 0:15:22.960 --> 0:15:26.840 It's definitely worrying people in Europe. It does seem like 0:15:26.920 --> 0:15:30.760 it's calmed down this year, so that might encourage people 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:34.280 to book. And in terms of the question about the pandemic, yes, 0:15:35.240 --> 0:15:38.400 we are seeing all this from the lens of the pandemic. 0:15:38.480 --> 0:15:42.760 We were all cooped up, lockdown, we couldn't travel, and 0:15:42.800 --> 0:15:47.600 because of that, people really valued their travel. So they're 0:15:47.680 --> 0:15:49.800 sort of signs that they're not spending as much on 0:15:49.920 --> 0:15:54.480 experience on things, but they're spending more on experiences meals 0:15:54.520 --> 0:15:58.800 out travel. And when I was researching my column on 0:16:00.200 --> 0:16:03.960 where interest rates would hit people, a few people I 0:16:04.000 --> 0:16:08.120 spoke to said anywhere but travel. But it does seem 0:16:08.320 --> 0:16:11.320 even within the confines of that that there are some 0:16:11.400 --> 0:16:14.080 cracks emerging and some people are being a little bit 0:16:14.120 --> 0:16:16.440 more cautious with travel. I think this summer will still 0:16:16.480 --> 0:16:18.960 be really really good for the industry. Lots of people 0:16:19.000 --> 0:16:22.400 are but they're prepared to pay. But I think going 0:16:22.520 --> 0:16:27.400 forwards that the autumn winter season and in to next summer, 0:16:27.680 --> 0:16:31.320 we may see, you know, that might not be quite strong. 0:16:31.800 --> 0:16:35.320 And we are talking with Bloomberg Opinion columnist Andrea Felstad 0:16:35.360 --> 0:16:39.920 about how travel may not be the same after this summer. 0:16:40.400 --> 0:16:43.200 What are you seeing as far as the impact on 0:16:43.280 --> 0:16:46.680 the travel industry. Are they feeling it? Are they buckling 0:16:46.760 --> 0:16:49.760 up for what may be to come. Are they kind 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:53.360 of enjoying all the tickets and all the traveling now. 0:16:54.080 --> 0:16:57.360 They're definitely enjoying all the ticket prices and the holiday 0:16:57.360 --> 0:17:00.840 prices now. But that this PwC research had some quite 0:17:01.000 --> 0:17:08.359 interesting factors, and also some other tour operators were talking 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:14.399 about some some slight impacts that we're seeing. So the 0:17:14.800 --> 0:17:19.320 Thomas Cook which is is now an online a travel 0:17:19.400 --> 0:17:22.040 travel travel company, they found that there was a bit 0:17:22.080 --> 0:17:26.320 of change on what people were booking. They were they 0:17:26.320 --> 0:17:28.919 were maybe going for different destinations and there were maybe 0:17:29.800 --> 0:17:32.480 choosing slightly cheaper destinations. So they were going to like 0:17:32.560 --> 0:17:36.480 mainland Spain, which is perhaps a bit cheaper. It's around 0:17:36.480 --> 0:17:42.200 twenty percent cheaper than the Balaric Islands or the Canary Islands. 0:17:42.320 --> 0:17:44.879 So they're they're they're still going somewhere that's lots of 0:17:44.960 --> 0:17:50.240 family fun, but it's cheaper. The other thing we are seeing, 0:17:50.600 --> 0:17:53.440 and this was in the in some of the short 0:17:53.560 --> 0:17:57.160 term holiday lets from air DNA, which tracks the market, 0:17:57.720 --> 0:17:59.639 is that they're seeing quite a lot of bookings for 0:17:59.640 --> 0:18:02.600 Septmber and October. So because of the prices are so 0:18:02.800 --> 0:18:08.120 high for the summer, they're extending through to those later months. 0:18:08.200 --> 0:18:10.439 We're also seeing this in the States as well. There 0:18:10.480 --> 0:18:14.159 was some research and destination analysts that also found that 0:18:14.200 --> 0:18:17.840 those shoulder months were were quite popular. 0:18:18.359 --> 0:18:20.639 I can I can vouch for that summer. I was 0:18:20.680 --> 0:18:23.520 not able to travel because of the price, so I 0:18:23.600 --> 0:18:26.800 extended it out to September, and instead of blanging a 0:18:26.800 --> 0:18:29.240 whole week, I just booked a fat weekend. 0:18:30.080 --> 0:18:32.960 You know, exactly, That's exactly what we'll see. We'll see, 0:18:33.400 --> 0:18:40.080 you know, people trading down from from weeks to weekends. 0:18:40.119 --> 0:18:45.639 But then saying that obviously sort of sort of also 0:18:45.800 --> 0:18:50.960 surveyed travel operators and the one area they were less 0:18:51.040 --> 0:18:54.000 concerned about they were most optimistic about was the luxury 0:18:54.040 --> 0:18:56.520 and high end because you know, as we've seen in 0:18:56.520 --> 0:19:00.639 the luxury industry, wealthier people were hit less by everyday 0:19:00.760 --> 0:19:04.720 costs and so they can still afford to travel. So 0:19:04.760 --> 0:19:07.119 it will be in that mid market to value and 0:19:07.960 --> 0:19:09.879 that we might see some of these changes. 0:19:11.000 --> 0:19:13.040 Andrew, before we let you go, let me ask you 0:19:13.160 --> 0:19:17.280 about how long it may take before we get back 0:19:17.320 --> 0:19:20.600 to normal, or is there a normal anymore? Do we 0:19:20.680 --> 0:19:24.000 have a new baseline because of the pandemic and all 0:19:24.040 --> 0:19:27.000 of the commotion and chaos that it has caused within 0:19:27.440 --> 0:19:31.360 not just our own personal lives and our paychecks and 0:19:31.480 --> 0:19:33.639 the way we spend our leisure time, but the travel 0:19:33.680 --> 0:19:37.280 industry as well. Is this a new normal? Yes? 0:19:37.359 --> 0:19:39.680 I think it is a new normal, and it all 0:19:39.720 --> 0:19:43.240 comes back to how much we miss travel during the pandemic. 0:19:43.760 --> 0:19:48.040 So even if things slow down, there will still be 0:19:48.280 --> 0:19:52.400 an element I think of prioritizing travel over other things 0:19:53.240 --> 0:19:57.919 because we were also cooped up that Having said that, 0:19:58.920 --> 0:20:01.680 we'll have had two good years of travel, so perhaps 0:20:01.800 --> 0:20:04.600 next year it might not be such a priority. I 0:20:04.640 --> 0:20:07.639 still think it will be quite a priority, maybe not 0:20:07.720 --> 0:20:08.359 quite as much. 0:20:08.680 --> 0:20:12.160 Andrea Felstad is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist who covers consumer 0:20:12.240 --> 0:20:15.120 goods and the retail industry. And don't forget We're available 0:20:15.119 --> 0:20:18.960 as a podcast on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform. 0:20:19.200 --> 0:20:22.400 And we're learning more about Ross Perot Junior of Dallas 0:20:22.440 --> 0:20:25.919 looking to bankroll a new cricket league in America, And 0:20:25.960 --> 0:20:28.400 as it turns out, this isn't the first time we've 0:20:28.400 --> 0:20:31.320 seen a Texas billionaire looking to launch a new cricket 0:20:31.400 --> 0:20:33.760 league in the US, joining us now to talk it 0:20:33.840 --> 0:20:37.800 through Bloomberg Opinion columnist Bobby Gosh, Bobby covers foreign affairs, 0:20:37.840 --> 0:20:40.359 and he's going to help us out with this. Okay, Bobby, 0:20:40.400 --> 0:20:41.080 what is the plan? 0:20:41.960 --> 0:20:46.160 Rosparrow Junior and a bunch of Indian tech leaders, including 0:20:46.200 --> 0:20:50.000 Sachia Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft or all bank rolling 0:20:50.400 --> 0:20:53.080 through the tune of one hundred and twenty million dollars. 0:20:53.800 --> 0:20:57.840 Major League Cricket America's first big attempt to create a 0:20:58.000 --> 0:21:04.200 proper cricketing league. It kicks off, if that's the right expression, 0:21:04.560 --> 0:21:11.159 on Friday, July thirteenth in Dallas, Texas, at a cricket Stadium, 0:21:11.160 --> 0:21:15.840 America's first proper cricket stadium, and it will feature six 0:21:15.920 --> 0:21:22.880 teams and made up primarily of players of Indian origin, 0:21:22.960 --> 0:21:26.600 Indian or subcontinental origin, although there is a fairt mattering 0:21:26.640 --> 0:21:30.479 of Australians and Englishmen and people from the Caribbean in 0:21:30.520 --> 0:21:35.560 those teams. So this is a big gamble on cricket 0:21:35.600 --> 0:21:40.520 taking route in America, but it's not predicated on cricket 0:21:40.560 --> 0:21:44.480 becoming an American sport to challenge let's say baseball, which 0:21:44.520 --> 0:21:48.960 is its distant cousin, or football or any other major 0:21:49.000 --> 0:21:54.840 American sport. This one is directed primarily at the diasporas 0:21:55.400 --> 0:21:59.040 from countries where cricket was already a passion and primarily 0:21:59.600 --> 0:22:01.400 the Indian diaspora. 0:22:01.960 --> 0:22:04.360 Okay, let's dig into that. We want to start off 0:22:04.440 --> 0:22:08.080 with the history of this. We've seen this before, haven't we. 0:22:08.080 --> 0:22:12.760 Well, yes, about a decade ago, another Texas billionaire, Alan Stanford, 0:22:13.359 --> 0:22:18.480 talked up a big plan to support cricket in the 0:22:18.600 --> 0:22:22.600 United States. He had a business, he was a wealth 0:22:22.600 --> 0:22:25.720 manager based in Antiga in the Caribbean, where cricket was 0:22:25.720 --> 0:22:29.200 pretty big, and he caught the bug and he felt 0:22:29.240 --> 0:22:31.520 like he could bring that sport to the United States. 0:22:31.800 --> 0:22:35.399 Of course, famously, he then got caught essentially running a 0:22:35.520 --> 0:22:38.800 ponzi scheme and was cent to jail for one hundred 0:22:38.920 --> 0:22:42.840 and ten years, and his dreams of bringing cricket to 0:22:42.880 --> 0:22:47.040 America sort of went by the wayside. This time, I 0:22:47.080 --> 0:22:49.720 think it's a little more realistic because a great deal 0:22:49.760 --> 0:22:53.280 has changed in that ten year period, including the size 0:22:53.720 --> 0:22:58.400 and more importantly, perhaps the wealth of the Indian immigrant community. 0:22:58.560 --> 0:23:02.040 There are now two points to three million Indian immigrants 0:23:02.040 --> 0:23:06.440 in this country. They are the most wealthy of all 0:23:06.480 --> 0:23:10.400 the many diasporas in America, and that makes and they 0:23:10.440 --> 0:23:14.280 come preloaded with cricket. I mean, I am Indian American myself. 0:23:14.320 --> 0:23:17.480 I grew up in India. And if you did, then 0:23:17.600 --> 0:23:20.439 you were already programmed to love cricket and to be 0:23:20.480 --> 0:23:25.119 passionate about it. And that's what the founders of this 0:23:25.280 --> 0:23:28.000 new league are counting on. They're counting on people like 0:23:28.080 --> 0:23:32.199 me to watch on television, to pay for tickets, to 0:23:32.200 --> 0:23:37.640 go and see games at stadiums, and bring our passion 0:23:37.840 --> 0:23:40.879 and maybe along the way convert one of one or 0:23:40.880 --> 0:23:44.840 two of our non cricketing American friends into the spot. 0:23:45.119 --> 0:23:48.360 Okay, so you are already a fan, like you say, 0:23:48.359 --> 0:23:52.199 it's already baked into you and those around you. So 0:23:52.720 --> 0:23:55.840 do you feel like this has a shot? Are people 0:23:55.880 --> 0:23:59.600 going to support this? Is there any risk that it 0:23:59.680 --> 0:24:02.600 may somehow, and I hope you follow what I mean 0:24:02.640 --> 0:24:06.440 when I say this somehow be corrupted by being Americanized. 0:24:07.040 --> 0:24:11.639 There's not much risk of that because the Americanization of 0:24:11.680 --> 0:24:16.119 cricket ironically has already happened. It happened strangely enough in 0:24:16.119 --> 0:24:19.560 India when a big cricket league it's called the IPL, 0:24:19.600 --> 0:24:22.600 the Indian Premier League, was launched eight or nine years 0:24:22.600 --> 0:24:26.520 ago in India. It was done specifically with very American 0:24:26.560 --> 0:24:30.080 style hoopla Indian cricket teams. In fact, some of them 0:24:30.200 --> 0:24:34.760 actually employed American cheerleaders to go over and teach Indians 0:24:34.760 --> 0:24:38.080 how to do cheerleading. So, if you like, the Americanization 0:24:38.200 --> 0:24:40.840 of cricket has already happened. It's the question of the 0:24:40.880 --> 0:24:42.720 cricketization of America. 0:24:42.800 --> 0:24:46.199 Now, oh, that's interesting way of looking at it. Okay, 0:24:46.280 --> 0:24:50.000 So help me figure out how this is going to work. 0:24:50.040 --> 0:24:55.399 Why parole, why cricket? How is this going to work financially? 0:24:56.520 --> 0:25:00.080 So most of the founders, most of the sponsors and 0:25:00.080 --> 0:25:03.400 and owners of teams of the six teams are Indians 0:25:03.400 --> 0:25:06.200 and Indian Americans. Rosboro is kind of the odd man 0:25:06.200 --> 0:25:10.040 out because his business partner is Indian and sort of, 0:25:10.280 --> 0:25:13.920 if you like, inculcated him into the culture of cricket, 0:25:13.920 --> 0:25:16.600 and he sort of he recognized not only the passion 0:25:16.640 --> 0:25:18.840 that Indian Americans bring to the sport, but he also, 0:25:19.119 --> 0:25:22.280 as a good businessman, saw a business opportunity. There's a 0:25:22.440 --> 0:25:26.880 very large Indian and South Asian generally community in the 0:25:26.960 --> 0:25:31.639 Texas Fort Worth area, and he saw the opportunity there 0:25:31.720 --> 0:25:34.480