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Mark Gongloff is an editor with Bloomberg Opinion. He previously was a managing editor of Fortune.com, ran the Huffington Post's business and technology coverage, and was a columnist, reporter and editor for the Wall Street Journal.

Photographer: ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP/Getty Images

Photographer: ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP/Getty Images

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Megan Thee Stallion, who has a Grammy but not yet a coin.

Photographer: Kevin Winter/Getty Images North America

Lets say you run a sovereign nation that has the worlds biggest economy and the worlds reserve currency to boot, butone day a rival arises. Lets call it MeganTheeStallionCoin. Itpromises to do away with fusty old dollars like yours by being unregulated and secured by something called the blockchain, which burns the annual energy consumption of a large Texas family every hour. It also disappears forever if you lose your password, and youd never use it as actual currency because the MeganCoinyou spend on a pizza today could be worth $60,000 tomorrow. But people ignore all that in hopes of making $60,000 and also its endorsed by not only Megan Thee Stallion but Elon Musk. Do you:

If you chose c, then youre thinking like Bloombergs editorial board. It suggests the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks respond to the crypto eruption by mostly letting people have their BitFun but then using what it learnsfrom crypto to create digital rivalsthat dontfluctuate wildly, ruin the planet or leave peopledigging through landfills for lost millions. There would be risks, including that of government spying and a whole payments industrygoing up in smoke. But those can be managed, and the upside could be a truly secure and global digital payment system with, uh, JayPowellCoin at its heart. JanetYellenCoin? The name still needs some work. Read the whole thing.

Further Free Advicefor Financial Regulation Enthusiasts:

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Everybody assumes the pandemics end will bring one long V-E Day-style orgy of communal drinking, loud group singing and public displays ofaffection. But the world doesnt stop manufacturing new horrors just because were done with the current one.

Even as we speak, the risk of armed conflict between China and the U.S. over Taiwan is growing, warns Max Hastings. Beijinghas become increasingly belligerent on the subject, and President Joe Biden faces a dilemma: how to make a full takeover of the island painful and difficult without triggering a world war.

Meanwhile, all the masking and social-distancing weve done to slow Covid-19 has also kept a more-virulent disease, measles, in check, writes Mark Buchanan. Even as we wind down the fight against Covid, we must ramp up global vaccinations for measles, or risk a new pandemic thats as deadly as this one.

And though massive Fed stimulus and fiscal relief have prevented a depression and kept many people out of poverty, Mohamed El-Erian warns the Covid recession has widened already yawning economic inequalities, setting the stage for many more crises if unaddressed.

Further Crisis Reading:Hong Kong is quarantining babiesin a nonsensical reaction to a Covid outbreak. Anjani Trivedi

Bidens next trick after passing a $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill is an even bigger infrastructure bill, and hes apparently planning major tax hikes on the wealthy to help pay for it. This might win over those such as Joe Manchin who say theyre worried about the federal debt. But its exactly the wrong way to fund infrastructure improvements, writes Noah Smith. The government should borrow while its cheapto bolster future growth, which makes paying debts easier. Boosting the economys potential will probablyhelp markets better digest massive debt, writes Lena Komileva.

Beyond how you pay for infrastructure, though,theres the problem of what you can actually build, warns Matthew Yglesias. It's a dilemma that has ruined Infrastructure Weeks for many past presidents, as knotty conflicts and hidden costs frustrated big plans.

At least some of our infrastructure problems may be solved locally, thanks to a relief bill that has put tons of cash in the pockets of state and local governments. Their fiscal troubles hurt the recovery from the Great Recession, Brian Chappatta notes, but now theyve got the money to keep building, hiring and avoiding default.

Further Tax-and-Spend Reading:

Despite 40 years of worry, inflation keeps not being a problem, notes Matthew Winkler.

The UAE keeps breaking with OPEC, most recently on letting customers resell its oil. Its a bad sign for the cartels future cohesion, writes Julian Lee, and evidence the UAE hopes to use its well-placed Fujirah port to make its oil more important to Asia.

The West should help Turkey end Syrias civil war. Recep Tayyip Erdogan

How Dianne Morales would run New York. Howard Wolfson

Elon Musk declaring himself Technoking is just the latest sign not all is normalat Tesla. Liam Denning

Big ad agencies must respond to a crackdownon consumer data they get from Apple and Google. Alex Webb

David SolomonsGoldman Sachs treats its bankers less like assets. Matt Levine

Foxconn could still salvage its Wisconsin plans by shifting to making electric cars. Tim Culpan

During Womens History Month, remember the inventions that gave women more time and freedom. Virginia Postrel

People are yelling at banks about not getting stimulus checks.

Better Covid vaccines may be possible.

The IRS has failed to collect $2.4 billionfrom millionaires.

Zoo animals seem glad visitors are back. (h/t Ellen Kominers)

Meet all the species that have come back from near-extinction. (h/t Scott Kominers)

Scientists want to store DNA in tubes on the Moon, just in case. (h/t Mike Smedley)

People are stealing NFTs.

Notes: Please send NFTs and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net.

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This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

To contact the author of this story:Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:Mike Nizza at mnizza3@bloomberg.net

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Mark Gongloff is an editor with Bloomberg Opinion. He previously was a managing editor of Fortune.com, ran the Huffington Post's business and technology coverage, and was a columnist, reporter and editor for the Wall Street Journal.

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Bitcoin Replacement? The Fed Can Build One - Bloomberg