a big political overlay. people are getting much david: from bloomberg world headquarters in new york to our tv and radio audiences wealthier at the same time as worldwide, i am david westin. elizabeth warren and many others welcome to "balance of power," where the world of politics meets the world of business. on the brief today, anna want to impose higher taxes on them. david: when people across the edgerson in washington about how country here the sorts of numbers, it may make them more some senators approach to sympathetic to a wealth tax or impeachment could affect the reelection chances. increased tax rates. sonali: the important thing michael mckee in new york on economic data, and charles about a wealth tax, it is about time people got more nuanced kinsey in madrid on what could about what that means. be a deal to keep the acting prime minister in office. something that was interesting let's start with anna in that bill gates said earlier washington. this year in a conference was we are waiting for nancy pelosi that he believes capital income to send the articles of impeachment to the senate. what about the senators once should be taxed more evenly with they get it? other types of income. if you look at jeff bezos, one who has to be concerned about the reelection chances depending of the biggest earners, gainers on how they handle it on either side? in this list, a lot of his anna: we expect this to be a income is tied up in stock. david: unless he sells partisan process, just like it was in the house. most democrats voting for something. sonali: larry summers made a impeachment, of most republicans similar point, mark zuckerberg voting against. there are 35 senators up for is not pay much in taxes with so reelection, and only six of those will be interesting to much of his money in stocks. watch. pointed outroducer democrats, doug jones of

to me, the patriotic alabama and joe mansion of west millionaires, there is a group virginia. incentive tove together, that has certain ideas vote against impeachment. about how to fix this problem. sonali: abigail disney is a very on the republican sidethey are o interesting billionaire, who's been very vocal about disney itself, how much they pay their represent largely democratic states and they could have tough ceos relative to the workers. there was a great profile about decisions when it comes to how to handle the impeachment trial. patriotic millionaires and her there could be a couple role in it. other people involved are the of them either way. we are talking about the actual air of oscar meyers, men's conviction. wearhouse. it is not that millionaires what about the procedure issue? themselves are not looking at the issue and saying we need to the speaker was trying to get do more of our part here. republicans to agree to a trial. a cnbc poll recently said that they need six votes to get that done. most millionaires would enjoy a is there any prospect of that? anna: there is. thatver $50 million, so lisa murkowski said last week support went down over $10 she was disturbed by some of million. david: a study in the new york mitch mcconnell's coordination with the white house and what times today about corporate the process will look like. taxation, what happened in the or five or sixur 2017 tax cut act. republicans voting with democrats on the process, maybe it didn't work out the way especially when it comes to it predicted. sonali: a huge list of companies

asking for witnesses and trying to get some of those white house listed that have been lobbying the government, a lot of foreign officials to testify at the house and the senate. banks, barclays, credit suisse. any indication the the reason this is an issue, speakers getting ready to send they were supposed to get tax this over? revenue after they cut corporate could she said on this forever? anna: she could but she probably tax rates. however, after that, a lot of will not. there are procedural things that people realized that the taxes have to happen. the most important is to name they were supposed to collect never came to fruition. the impeachment managers. ,avid: i am not a tax lawyer these are the house members that represent the house case and the senate impeachment trial. but as i understand it, one of she needs to know what that trial will look like so she can the issue is how corporations can reduce their tax burden by figure out how any managers to moving profits around between name in the first place. david: thank you so much for the u.s. and overseas subsidiaries. reporting from washington. now we turn to michael mckee 2017 act was supposed to fix that, but it appears it did not. because we have economic data sonali: that is a big part of this morning. the problem. easy to understand if you are michael: let's put it in a political perspective. not a tax lawyer. the big news this morning was a a lot of the big foreign banks much lower than forecast were supposed to be paying taxes international trade deficit for on interest paid to their parent the united states in terms of goods. companies abroad. bbyy were able to lo lower than the

$68 billion people thought would the treasury department to make be the result. it shows that may be donald sure that that was clampdown on. david: democrats are already trump is having some impact on the trade deficit. economists do not know whether that is because we are waiting, saying that you benefited the wealthy, not the working class. sonali: and what is the role of the treasury department to make because people bought stuff earlier, whether or not sure that these tax loopholes get close to. americans have not been buying imports because it costs more up. david: we will continue to money, but at this point it is good news for the president. follow that through the election year. coming up, we will continue on he said he would lower the trade deficit, that is what is happening. bloomberg radio. toour second hour, we talk report that was a the south -- that the china vice premier would be coming over. mark kimmitt, but the u.s. launching strikes in iraq and syria against an iranian black is this good for president trump militia. to declare victory? we basically have a proxy war michael: he can. going on in iraq between the now the question becomes what is u.s. and iran. the general has just returned from the region and has a full about phase two. no one is buying the agreement report about what we are doing in iraq and why we had to go we can get a second round agreement this year. david: my calendar tells me it after these militias. that is coming up in the second ho half hour of balance of is december 30. there may be tending of liquidity and dollars. power on bloomberg radio.

what we know? this is "balance of power" on bloomberg television and radio. ♪ michael: that generally happens at the end of the year, but the fed has been typing so much money into the market it looks like at this point they have avoided the problem. at this point they have three offerings, all of which are under subscribed. they put out $125 billion of repo before the overnight market and only $30 billion was taken up. nothing taken up in terms of the term repo, 15 days. it looks like markets as of today have enough cash. the question is when the rate starts going up and demand gets higher at the end of the month, do we see the banks lend what they have? david: it gives us something to watch tomorrow. many thanks to michael mckee for that report. we want to go over to madrid. there were developments about a possible deal that would keep the acting premised are in office. what happened? charles: hello. we are starting to see some of the pieces of the political jigsaw falling into place in

spain that should enable the acting prime minister to form a new government. we have seen sanchez and his coalition partner from the far-left party, they have announced the government program that suggests increasing optimism on their part that they would be able to form a government and perhaps what gives them that optimism is the fact that there has been an opinion handed down by the state lawyer in spain basically saying the leader of a catalan separatist party should be able to collect his credentials to be a member of the european parliament. that is important because sanchez needs the votes of that party. needsarty is going -- he their votes to ensure he can get through confidence to stay on as prime minister. progress being made in spain. david: some progress, but it is it -- is it showing up in the

markets? markets, we have not seen much reaction. there are things in the government program for sanchez which might give the markets something to think about in terms of higher taxes and also beyond the routine checkups. beyond the not-so-routine cases. moves to repeal some aspects of comcast business is helping doctors the labor reform put in place a provide care in whole new ways. few years ago. all working with a new generation of technologies these are elements of concern for the market, but they both powered by our gig-speed network. have some -- they have been because beyond technology... there is human ingenuity. flagged before hand. it is something the market will every day, comcast business is helping businesses be keeping an ion. go beyond the expected. david: thank you for reporting to do the extraordinary. from madrid. take your business beyond. that is our bureau treat in madrid, charles penty. here with us is abigail doolittle. i came in early this morning. pictures were positive. we had green numbers. i do not know what you did, but it went the wrong way.

abigial: i do not know if it is my doing, but we can talk about it. the bearish reversal. earlier we had futures higher, now we are looking at the worst day in about a month on no news. when you see that, we have been talking about this year's big rally and the possibility that at some point we would see profit-taking. today that is probably what we are seeing, especially that tech sector, all of the names that ritika: i'm ritika gupta with bloomberg first word news. were up so much this year. some investors and traders taking names off the table. david: that is because tech was . overbought to begin with? kim has been threatening to take a new path in nuclear talks if abigial: it was overbought. if you take a look at the index the president does not sweeten the deal by the end of the year. relative to its 200 day moving he has already resumed missile average, investors were writing this and wanted to take it up launches at a record-setting ph. and now they are taking chips he has warned his freeze on icbm off the table. david: i will push you. and nuclear bomb test might be what happened to bonds? coming to an end. i cannot find an explanation. in southeast australia, abigial: an interesting point. wildfires forced thousands to flee a popular tourist spot. bonds are pushing lower significantly. the 10 year yield up five basis the fires have been fueled by a few live in strong winds.

points. it is the latest development in typically you would not see that with stocks lower. a crisis that has gripped maybe some expectation that australia since last month. rates in the coming year are u.s. pending home sales has going to equalize a little bit since the fed is still on pat. climbed for the third time in four months, up more than 1%. another haven assets, the contract signings jumped five japanese yen up .6%. points its percent from november of last year. because that is not influenced the increase is led by a rebound by fed policy, that could be the in the west. truer haven asset. signings were up 1% in the bonds overlooked -- bonds a midwest but were down in the south and north east. little bit of an anomaly. global news 24 hours a day, david: gold keeps marching on-air, and on quicktake by bloomberg, powered by more than higher. 2700 journalists and analysts in over 120 countries. abigial: that is true. for thehanks a much market trek from abigail doolittle. now we turn to ritika gupta with first word news. ritika: european trade commissioner bill hogan says the eu is likely drop its opposition to extend the period. this is despite legislation that calls for britain's eu departure on january 31. the bill would be debated again

in the new year. the bill includes a provision that outlaws extending a plant transition period beyond the end of 2020. in north korea, kim jong-un is expected to use his annual new year's speech to ratchet up pressure on president trump. for months, kim jong-un has been threatening to take a new path in nuclear talks of the president does not sweeten the deal by the end of the year. he has already resumed missile launches at a record-setting pace. andarned his freeze on icbm nuclear bomb tests might be coming to an end. a reshuffle in china's regional government is currently underway. multiple personnel moves took place in 24 provinces and only a week. 32 new mayoral level officials have been appointed. 29 have been relocated to a new province for the first time. vladimir putin called president trump to thank him for intelligence that help prevent terror attacks in russia according to the kremlin.

russia says the two leaders discussed further cooperation to fight terrorism and other matters. global news 24 hours a day, on air and on quicktake by bloomberg, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in over 120 countries. . am ritika gupta this is bloomberg. david? david: thanks so much. coming up, keeping it legal. did president trump do something unlawful when he tweeted the name of his alleged whistleblower to his twitter followers, and doesn't matter? we ask our political panel, next. ons is "balance of power" bloomberg television and radio. ♪

bethe whistleblower ought to

known and testify if they try to take out a sitting president. everyone in america has a right to face their accusers. why should the president be denied that constitutional right? david: that was congressman steve scalise defending president trump's naming of the alleged whistleblower whose complaint led to the impeachment. for their take, we welcome our political panel. shemar jeffries is a partner at lowenstein sandler, and down in washington, rachel boulevard, senior policy director at the senior policy institute. rachel, be honest. did you cringe when you saw the president reveal the name of the so-called was a blower? there are protections about this. the law says something. rachel: there are protections but there is legal ambiguity about whether this is a whistleblower. he had no firsthand knowledge of the events and the intelligence community had to change its rules to allow him to file a

whistleblower report because he had no firsthand knowledge. we have seen his name put out there before. i think there are people like steve scalise who want to see the whistleblower testify if these are the allegations that will take down a sitting president that 63 million of bertens voted for. way away are a long from taking down any president. let's assume rachel is like. will the thing that took him down be that something -- that's assume rachel is right. will the thing that took him down be something somebody said or the transcript? >> the transcript is clear. the president wanted to leverage personal favors and public resources. the president has reckless disregard for legal process and legal norms. it is improper for any target of any investigation to publicly disclose the identity of a whistleblower. in this trump context, basic .orms seem to get perverted

there are ways a whistleblower can be named, but it has to go through legal process. why does it matter how it started? why doesn't it matter how it finishes. they have testified under oath. isn't that what matters? rachel: if we are talking about norms, this impeachment process is not an example. we have seen house democrats blow past every single norm when it comes to how impeachment process should be handled, including hosting many of their depositions in secret and keeping that from the president himself, which is far and away a gross break without previous impeachments have been handled. if we are going to talk about norms, every single person is breaking them. david: rachel says both sides are breaking the norms. let's talk about former vice president joe biden. if he gets subpoenaed by the republicans to appear in a trial, at first he said i would

not come -- would not appear, he says now he would always comply. david: unlike -- shavar: unlike the vice -- unlike the president, witnesses have to show up in the united states of america. i do not know what the relevance would be of the vice president's testimony with regard to the senate impeachment hearing, namely to the extent president trump abused his power. president biden does not have knowledge appropriate to that. if he wants to challenge subpoenas, he can do that through a legal process, but if you're subpoenaed you have to show up in the united states. david: i have not seen any indication the vice president was part of anything corrupt, whatever happened with his son, hunter. what you expect to get out of that? rachel: it is unclear if he knew what was going on or not. hunter biden admitted he did talk to his father about it. this is part of this inquiry that has gone unexplored.

hunter biden was serving on the board of a notably corrupt ukrainian gas company while his father was directing $3 billion in u.s. aid to the country. this has not been explored. we know little about the communications that went on between the white house and hunter. if a subpoena is issued, it would further examine what is going on. to the point of whether joe biden will comply with a subpoena, this is the man who was running saying he has the moral authority to replace donald trump. he has to act better in order to get that moral authority and comply with the subpoena. david: we are talking to shavar jeffries in new york and rachel bovard in washington. you think republicans are feeling any pressure to have an actual trial as opposed to something that is quick? rachel: i do not think so. all signals point to a shorter trial. a lot of them think this is a sham impeachment. they look at the process the house democrats put together.

they say we will get on with this as fast as possible in the senate has that authority. the constitution gives the senate the authority to decide how the trial be constructed and that means republicans and democrats will agree to the rules. we are headed toward a short trial at this juncture. david: do you have some respect or admiration for the way the white house counsel has conducted things? he says we do not want our people testifying, we do not want to comply. it looks like that is playing out well. was that a good legal strategy? shavar: it was a good political strategy. lawyers are not ethically able to dissuade witnesses from appearing in a legal proceeding. that is totally unethical and improper from a legal standpoint. it is a great political strategy because of witnesses do not show up they will not be able to confirm what the president said. he said to me a favor and investigate my primary political opponent and maybe we'll release some eight.

mick mulvaney should testify, they are at the center of this. it is highly improper to discourage witnesses from testifying. david: i never thought i would ask this question any context, but does this impeachment matter? financial markets have not reacted. politically, is it likely to show up in this election year? rachel: let's be clear about what impeachment is. it is not a criminal proceeding. it is a political proceeding. i do not think it will have that much impact on the elections. the polls show a tremendous amount of impeachment fatigue. the group ofnts, people the democrats had to win, they are losing in droves. sean polls show a 10 point swing with independence refusing to support impeachments. this is not a clear-cut narrative. i think democrats of a replay their hand dramatically, and if it matters at all, it is going

to drive people toward donald trump rather than away from him. david: let's talk about driving toward donald trump. usa today is out with a pole. both democrats and republicans think their own personal economic situation going into 2020 is a good one, but they are not as comfortable with her the country is headed, particular democrats. is there a gap between the president's approval rating and the economic performance of the country? shavar: definitely with democrats. democrats have a visceral opposition with president that shows itself in the polls on a regular basis. many americans not invested in stock market are worried about their economic status. the survey said about 40% of americans cannot afford an unexpected $400 bill. people spend half of their money on housing and worry about college and retirement. there are underlying issues that we not reflect wall street numbers. david: rachel, you get the last

word. are you concerned about the gap between the president's approval rating and the economy? rachel: i think the economy is doing well, but there are pockets where could be doing better. overall economic picture is sound. i think you will see that reflected in the polls at one point. as james parker once said, it is the economy, stupid. democrats cannot even denied the economy is doing well. david: many thanks to shavar jeffries and rachel bovard. still ahead, tesla may have a new plant in shanghai, but it is still in the crosshairs with its stop falling. we talk about why that is. this is "balance of power" on bloomberg television and radio. ♪

david: this is "balance of power" on bloomberg television and radio. i am david westin. time for our stock of the hour. tesla's on pace for its worst

day in a month, dropping 3% as a warning on electric vehicle demand from cowen overshadows the company's first delivery from it shanghai factory. kailey leinz is here with more. kailey: there was so much excitement. we are looking at a stock that has doubled in the past six months because of all of the optimism surrounding the shanghai factory. today that is being overshadowed. we have a bull and bear case and the analyst community on tesla. at $414 and the average analyst price target is $298. the bear case is coming from cowen, the analyst said there is demand saturation. as a result he thinks they will miss their delivery target again. david: that is something different. we always worry about their ability to produce enough cars. they might be able to produce them now but maybe people do not want enough tesla's. kailey: they've worked out the kinks in the production, but the

company is saying they will deliver 300,000 400,000, and particular with the model three they think -- it will come up short of the forecast. david: what about china? will the chinese by a lot of tesla? kailey: we know demand in china is slowing. we know sales have declined five months sequentially, but when you look at a market like china for tesla it is vitally important. that is where all of the optimism came in about the shanghai factory, having the mate locally and get a stronger foothold in the market, which is a rare thing for elon musk. he gets things done on time and swiftly. there is concern about the long-term demand. that,is flagging especially in the face of all of the competition. david: that is my question? does the chinese government want tesla to survive? if they do, they can figure out how to get that done. kailey: they are helping them

with tax relief. right now that is working in tesla's favor. we have to consider the model three tesla will be selling. right now we are priced significantly above all of the homemade tesla models. cut prices bywill forcing more things locally. only 30% of the components made in shanghai are sourced locally. the question is can they shift the supply chain. david: many thanks to bloombergs kailey leinz. up next, riots and unrest rattled countries from ecuador to chile. what does the new year hold for latin america? power onbalance of bloomberg television and radio. ♪

david: from new york, this is "balance of power" on bloomberg television and radio. i'm david westin. news,oomberg first word

we go to ritika gupta. ritika: the united states launched airstrikes on five bases in iraq and syria. the move comes after several recent attacks on the american-led coalition operating in the region. secretary of state mike pompeo weighed in on the strikes. today, when we did was take a decisive response that makes clear what president trump has said for months and months, which is we will not stand for the islamic republic to take actions that puts american men and women in jeopardy. iranian and iraqi officials have condemned the airstrike. in ohio, more than 100 thousand homes and businesses lost power after a winter storm. the storm is making its way to the northeast. winter weather mornings are in effect from new york city on the way up to the canadian border. hasl rights icon john lewis

been diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer. the most senior black lawmaker in congress is 79 and says he has never face the fight like he the one he has now. global news 24 hours a day, on-air, and on quicktake by bloomberg, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in over 120 countries. i'm ritika gupta. this is bloomberg. david: thank you. 2019 multiyear of upheaval across latin america, one year president tookan office, the private sector remains skeptical of his efforts to cozy up to the business community. meanwhile, citizens in chile, protested,d brazil setting up uncertainty for the next year. joining us next is eric farnsworth. let's start with mexico, the

closest to the u.s. in many respects. what do we expect? we are not quite sure where amlo is going, and we are not quite sure where president trump is going with him. eric: you are right, mexico has been a bit of an enigma here. amlo has been in office just over a year now. one of his key provinces was that he would kickstart growth in mexico, which has not materialized. if you look at projections for 2020, it looks like more of the same. there is uncertainty that has developed in terms of the u.s.-mexico relationship. hopefully, some of that will be put aside with the passage of usmca, the trade agreement designed to replace nafta. but at the end of the day, that agreement will not create a new flood of investment into mexico. that will keep the investment there already there and perhaps increase at the margins some of

the certainty, reduce the uncertainty in the mexican economy. that's a good thing but not the question is business confidence. you alluded to it, the private sector remains skeptical of amlo . there are reasons for that. he sent mixed messages in terms of the role of the state in mexico's economy, what to look for in terms of his own priorities. much of his economic consciousness seems to have developed in the 1960's in terms of when he was a part of the pri little party. it looks as if there is a lot of status thinking that continues to motivate where the government is, and the private sector is skeptical of that. david: another place where there is uncertainty is brazil. president bolsonaro had an injury that may have affected his memory. eric: he has been on the campaign trail, he has been

subject of an assassination attempt, a recent injury as well, so there are some health issues. to brazilian economy seems be looking to recover somewhat in 2020. but again, it's had several years of sluggish growth. bolsonaro has only been in office for a year as of january 1, elected not just to restore brazil's economy but also to reduce crime and corruption in brazil. those issues have not necessarily gone away, so again, he's only been office a year, but there's a lot going on in terms of brazil. a bettering to develop relationship with the united states, came to washington last year. that relationship has gone forward in a positive way, but the uncertainties introduced by president trump announcing steel tariffs against brazil. one step forward, perhaps one

step back. david: moment where i almost feel sorry for bolsonaro. let's turn to a place where i never thought, given where we have been recently, and that is chile. they have really stumbled. me, on-air andke talk about an example of what the rest of latin america can aspire to, in terms of aggregate economic stability, poverty reduction, the ability to have an international profile with trade, investment. we have seen over the last several months, not all chileans have seen success with the current model and have really gone to the streets not to complain necessarily about inequality, which has existed forever, but really to protest expectations, the idea that the chilean model, which has worked for so long at the top level, needs to work better for everybody.

what we are seeing in 2020 is the president has called for a referendum to see whether the chilean people want to go forward with a constitutional rewrite. based on that, there will always be a constitutional reform effort. at the end of the day, the government and political classes will have to respond to people who have been told for so long you are doing really well, but they are not seeing it in their daily lives. thatmitch mcconnell -- mismatch has to be fixed. too long ago,not talking about latin america, and the strength of economies, you have to talk among venezuela. obviously not that anymore. to what extent are they waiting on the rest of latin america because of the refugee, economy? eric: it is huge. venezuela used to be latin america's wealthiest nation. when the concorde was flying

was paris to a lot of disposable income that people have. the truth is, it's turned into the worst humanitarian crisis that latin america has seen in its modern history. not to 5 million people out of 33 million people out outside of venezuela. go?where do they they are not necessarily coming to the u.s., or europe, but they are going into colombia, peru, or the caribbean islands, which has no ability to absorb them. now they have to take on, in some cases like columbia, millions of venezuelans, refugees without the resources to care for them and take care of them. the international community needs to step up here. we are looking for that to improve perhaps in 2020. the venezuela to tuition will not without fundamental political change. david: as we look back over 2019, mr. geoeye does said that

he was a lawful president. what happened to him? we thought maybe the world would turn to guido and recognize him as a leader of venezuela. where is he now? eric: he has lost a lot of momentum since the efforts last year to get mr. maduro out of office. the beginning of january you'll see some are new to effort along those lines. the interim government will have been in office for one year as of january 23. i can protect there will be a lot of efforts to re-amplify that effort, continue to put pressure on mr. maduro. certainly, the u.s. and other countries have talked about that. continuing to put pressure on mr. maduro, see it in his own interest to depart venezuela. the healing of venezuela cannot begin until mr. maduro and the people close to him depart the scene. you need a fresh start. the sooner we can get there, in my view, the better. david: thank you very much.

and that is eric farnsworth reporting from washington. netanyahu benjamin overcame the challenge within his own party with no difficulty, but what lies or him in a general election in march? we speak to daniel kurt turn next. that is next. this is "balance of power" on bloomberg television and radio. ♪

david: this is "balance of power" on bloomberg television and radio. i'm david westin. prime minister netanyahu is the undisputed leader of the likud party after beating back a challenger, but still has an election in march. thus far, he nor his rival, have

been able to put together a government. we welcome right now daniel kurtzer, former ambassador to israel. welcome. great to have you with us. give us a sense of where netanyahu is right now. he has had some difficulty pulling a government together. what is likely to happen in the election in march? daniel: he is in the fight of his political life. as a man now in his 11th year as prime minister, he expected to do better in the last two election but found he could not muster a parliamentary majority in a coalition. there are a few roadblocks on the way to do that. frankly, unless there is major change between now and march 2, the date of the next election, we could be in for a third deadlock, where the two big parties are unable to form a government. david: one of the things he has hanging over his head is an indictment. reports today that he could be asking for a boat through

immunity. how much is that factoring into his political plight over in israel? i think it is the largest crowd on the horizon for him. supreme court in israel has instructed the attorney general to decide whether or not netanyahu can even run as an indicted person. that decision has not been made yet. thatyahu has said immunity, which is community -- clearly what he seeks, is a function of democratic government. appears there is some political hesitations on his part of moving forward in that direction. it is a very uncertain situation for him personally. therefore, the election outlook is equally uncertain. not get enoughes votes to put together a government, why would he enough -- get enough to get immunity adopted? daniel: he won't.

part of the deal he is trying to make is to pay off the smaller parties in the coin they are looking for, whether it is resources for their institutions, some annexations of the west bank for the right-wing parties, and in return, would receive their support for immunity. supportnnot muster that , the center and centerleft parties have already said they will not support immunity, should a national unity government be formed, which means he would be in a corner from which there is no escape. david: give us an idea of what the issues are. we are speaking with daniel kurtzer right now. give us an idea of what the issues are for the israeli people, what are they likely to vote on in march? and bennyy netanyahu gantz? daniel: essentially, yes. the big issue on the israeli

agenda for the last 50 years has been the future of the inritories they occupied 1967, the question of peace with palestinians. hasrestingly, that issued not figured as an election problem. apparently the israeli public is fairly satisfied with the status quo. therefore, you are looking at more bread and butter questions. who will be better for the economy? who can handle israel's international relations better? in particular, who can handle israel's security needs in the region, particularly those posed by iran, what to do about hezbollah in lebanon, hamas in gaza. , andig issues get ignored otherwise, there are not that many differences between the two parties. a lot of it has to do with personality. david: what is the state of the israeli economy? due is really people by and large give netanyahu credit for

running it while? daniel: the economy is in good shape, as with our own economy. there is a long-term question betweenquality and gaps the rich and the poor, but as a whole, it does well, in large part, because it is driven by an exceedingly strong high-tech betor that just continues to in the fastest gear possible. the economy is doing well. the israeli public, as you suggested, gives netanyahu credit for keeping the country on a fairly steady course. israelis normally vote as being among the happiest in the world, despite their security issues. david: given that, what is benny gantz's main claim? voters --es to the daniel: those are the pillars of

his policy. secureat he is a more vote with respect to security. he spent his career in the army. the army is not looking for another war but diplomatic processes while protecting israel. is more openantz to restarting a peace process with the palestinians. therefore, adverse to annexing territory, which netanyahu may do, if he is given another term. is themy understanding peace is run through washington to some extent. washington has played an active role in getting the peace process going. at this point, it feels like the administration has all but walked away from it. any peacehelp or hurt process that make it started? daniel: it hurts quite significantly.

the president started out by saying he was going to make the deal of the century, and yet, all the administration has done is shoot itself in the foot every time it tries to do something. whether it was the clumsy way that they handled the move of the embassy to jerusalem, cutting of assistance to the palestinians, closing down the washington,n essentially cutting ties with the palestinians. you cannot be catalyzing a peace process when you have thrown all of your weight only behind one party. this is the case where the administration has hurt itself and has heard the long-standing policy of the united states to try to be helpful, even when we have unnecessarily succeeded, we have tried our best to be helpful to these two parties. this administration has failed in that regard. you so much. that is daniel kurtzer, former ambassador out to israel. we will be back with him in the

next half hour on bloomberg radio. this is "balance of power" on bloomberg television and radio. ♪ ♪

david: this is "balance of power" on bloomberg television and radio. i'm david westin. the 500 wealthiest people in the added $1.2 trillion to their bank accounts this past year, up eight whopping 25%. there are no losers in this story. this is quite the story. $1.2 trillion incremental. >> it's a very interesting time as people believe global wealth may start to stack name as growth slows next year. this year was a great year led by bernard are no in france, followed by jeff bezos and bill gates. a lot of the wealth is in stocks.

renard is doing a lot with that money, looking to buy tiffany's. expand his empire a little more. david: also some interesting, colorful ones. kylie jenner. she made a lot of money by selling cosmetics. >> and the people behind baby shark.