guy: live from london, i'm guy johnson. alix steel is in new york. this is the european close on "bloomberg markets." children return to schools in england, freeing parents to return to work. we will be joined by the chair of parliament's women and equality committee. ursula von der leyen says the eu is tired of being the target of vaccines. an mario draghi targeting increased to side inflation risk as the economy recover. what does that mean for the economy going forward? we got equities absolutely flying in europe today, as you can see. the dax is up by 3.5% right now.

we've also got the banking sector doing well. what we have not seen is really any evidence that the ecb is concerned. the ecb kept its bond buying program pretty much unchanged. alix: i was really surprised about that, but did it matter? the idea is that they are there if need be. i should point out you are seeing a headline here that says the cdc is reworking the changes for people here in the u.s. to get vaccinated. if you are vaccinated, you can meet indoors with other people who are vaccinated. i want to look at the recovery trade versus the stay-at-home trade, ticking a look at amc versus docusign. you're getting a nice rally across all meter equities. docusign is up 0.7%, amc up 15%.

you mentioned the dollar, also climbing on the day, but off the highs of the session. brent was much higher, taking a little bit of a break. that is a story we will get to later on in the hour. guy: you see a pickup in the number of u.k. virus cases, rising by 4712 versus an average of 5995. so i slow down, but signs of stabilization. we've got 22 million people having their first dose. we've got some data shortly from italy. we could see the grim milestone of death being passed by italy. today we are seeing pushback from a number of different fronts. from the european commission in brussels, ursula von der leyen saying that the european commission is sick of being the

scapegoat, signaling you would have thought a tougher line when it comes to exports. i mentioned the ecb. mario draghi, formerly of the ecb, pushing a harder line in italy as well. where do we don't in europe? what will be the impact if europe decides to take a tougher line on exports? stephanie kelly, aberdeen standard investment senior strategist joins us now. i see the cdc headlines that alix is referencing in the united states. the u.s. is reopening. italy is closing. europe is closing. what is going to be the impact of that long-term, do you think? stephanie: i think it is going to be one of those issues, you can see that they are worried, and they are worried because the risk is that this becomes another lightning rod for euro

skepticism and euro phobia. a perception among european voters, particularly in italy, that being a member of the european union doesn't have the pot -- doesn't have the positive benefits they could have if they were "standalone." clearly, the uk's experience is only going to reinforce that feeling that if the european commission can't get its vaccine rollout sped up really quickly, it will become another lightning rod for euro skepticism, and could threaten the project as a whole. alix: what i don't get, why are we seeing a super cell rally in the equity market? your thesis makes complete sense, particularly as europe goes from crisis to crisis. why the underlying investor optimism? megan: i think it is -- stephanie: i think it is always

complicated to get into why stocks are rising. i am actually interested to see to what extent, when i speak to investors, we don't need to worry about politics. mario draghi is the prime minister of italy. what more could we want? but actually, my point is more that in a year or two years, draghi is not going to be prime minister forever, and they are going to continue to drag on and say europe is a lightning rod in the future. guy: what kind of crises are we heading towards here? i don't think we have fully recovered from the euro zone crisis. the euro zone simply outlasted that crisis. is it going to outlast this crisis? are we building up to a moment where there is a proper crisis at the ecb that the eurozone can't outlast? stephanie: i think it is more like a political crisis, and i think about the next election cycle in italy, is where i think

the next fear factor comes in. we will have the french elections next year. i thing that is certainly something to watch, that investors fret about. it is hard for a truly outsider candidate to do well. in italy, we've got elections in a couple of years, and those look set to be ones in which a right-wing coalition, including a far right party is likely to be the winner. that is a world in which investors get very worried about italy's role in europe, and that is the crisis. it is always the question, what is the next country to threaten the euro zone by threatening to leave? that would be the key fear factor for investors. alix: i wonder how we look at other geopolitical risk factors. we are going to talk about this throughout the show. you take a look at what happened

over the weekend in saudi arabia. you also have that microsoft hack, blamed on china. those percolating risks, when europe doesn't have much exposure to the middle east, how do we thing about that? stephanie: this is where taking a step back and thinking about what are our policy objectives for each of those major powers, what are they prioritizing. are they prioritizing access to resources? are they prioritizing influence abroad? what are the objectives? everything mix a lot more sense. for example, the europeans are a good example where we know the biden adminstration approach is to work more with allies, work more with europe. biden was unhappy with the fact that von der leyen and the european commission agreed to this china investment deal because the u.s. is not looking to work closely with china economically, but europe is saying our priorities are about

strengthening the european position. we want to grow the trade union side of things. when you look at it in those terms, it starts to become a bit clearer why it isn't just about what the u.s. wants. it is all moving parts, but they are integrated together. guy: can we talk a little bit about china? this microsoft hacked i think is interesting. i am wondering what escalation looks like around this. we also had comments over the weekend relating to taiwan. do you think investors are underestimating geopolitical tension related to china? stephanie: i think there's this discussion about geopolitical tension when it comes to china, but the ability to price what that looks like is challenging in some ways. it was kind of easier under trump, being able to say tariffs go up, tariffs go down. we can work out what that means. this kind of a direction us. whereas i think the real challenge now is that you can

certainly see a world in which nontariff barriers are rising. you have seen increasing political rhetoric. obviously biden takes a lot of issue with certain elements of the chinese economic system, and particularly issues like human rights abuses, democratic rights abuses. those are harder to solve and harder to price. i think it is a case of having to watch things very closely to find escalation. but exactly how far the individual cyberattacks escalate, how does that relate to ongoing issues around technology access and investment access, it is honestly quite a complex problem. i think we have to keep monitoring as investors and updating around are things getting worse or better. i think they are ultimately in the same world, a world in which the u.s. and china are not constructive partners. they are rivals, and you will

continue to see that an economic s, politics, and even humanitarian aid. i expect covid to become a real source of influence building in china, to try to build alternative alliances to support covid rollout in emerging market asia. alix: that is interesting. you mentioned that investors kind of ask about it, but then move on. what is the thing investors aren't asking about that they really should be paying attention to? stephanie: honestly, i kind of mentioned it earlier, but i think in 2020, there was a lot of focus on political risk. i got a lot of questions from friends, about u.s./china relations and about elections, and i think this year is a quieter year, but there is really important groundwork for potential risks for the future. crucially, the recovery. the economic recovery is a time where you will see policies that

help to tackle systemic issues like gender inequality, or they won't. and if they don't, you will start to see the backlash to that in the recovery period. that is actually when things like populist pressures rise because other people's eyes are getting better, but it is an unequal recovery. that is something we should pay close attention to because there are important signals that next year or the year after , investors need to be taking about that more medium-term. in that way, 2021 is crucial delaying that groundwork -- crucial to laying the groundwork. alix: stephanie, thank you. just to update you on those cdc headlines, they are coming out with, if you are vaccinated, you can be with other vaccinated people indoors with no masks on. guy: we are still slightly

tighter when it comes to rules and the u.k., though they are going to loosen some. for instance, care homes today, you are now allowed to have one visitor for that care home per person. but it is done on a really cautious basis. the prime minister is speaking right now. i don't think he is saying anything particularly new. today's data in terms of the vaccination of the u.k. population, is a milestone. more than -- population, a milestone. more than 1/3 of the population has now received inoculation. that will certainly add a little bit of an annoyance factor to what is happening on the continent, where we can see certainly politics and vaccination rollouts are being mixed together, not always with great results. we will talk more about what impact this is going to have only markets. seema shah, parsable global

investors, will be joining us. -- principal global investors, will be joining us.

♪ alix: live from new york, i'm alix steel, with guy johnson in new york. this is the european close on "bloomberg markets." the news from the cdc is that if you are vaccinated, you are allowed to meet with other vaccinated people indoors without masks. the rules for nonvaccinated people still stays the same. outdoors, vaccinated people should still adhere to social distancing and mask wearing. joining us now is seema shah, principal global investors chief

strategist. if we start with the rally in european equities, i feel in some ways, it is helping to drag up u.s. equities today as well. how does that rally sustain itself when you have higher yields, you did not have an easy be over the last two weeks buying bonds in their pepp program? what is the case for european equities? seema: it is a really tough one to make. we are concerned about european assets in general. look at the backdrop, and it is not performing as well as i think many people were hoping. the vaccine rollout has been disappointingly slow, and doesn't show many signs of acceleration that we have been seeing in other countries. the tightening in u.s. financial conditions also means that european conditions are also tightening. europe simply cannot afford. it doesn't have its own kind of fiscal stimulus package. so i think we do have a lot of

hesitation with regards to european equities right now. guy: what about internationally focused european investments? you have a cheaper euro at $1.18 today. you have a global economy picking up quite nicely. anyone with exposure to the u.s. economy should benefit in terms of the translation effect. you got oil prices that are up, a steep yield curve, which should also favor european banks. isn't there quite a case to be made for individual sectors to outperform here? guy: -- seema: i think that is key. we think european banks will outperform. that steepening yield curve is very favorable for the banking sector. but i think overall, we have to pick on a relative basis which region we want to be having that significant exposure to. unfortunately, at the moment it is not europe. really, when we look at international equities more

generally speaking, although at the beginning of this year it was all in place for international equities, the u.s. is outperforming everyone. it looks like it will be one the stronger performers of 2021. a lot of regions looking good at the beginning of the year are starting to pale in comparison to the u.s. alix: if you are looking at tightening financial conditions, why wouldn't that be the case for the u.s.? windows that actually hurt -- when is that actually hurt? seema: i think that is the key question for investors. i what point does that rise in yields become too difficult? i think there is a real case for rotation. we need to be looking at cyclical stocks, value stocks, the ones that have been particularly well that are starting to struggle. they do have the stronger economic outlook. that u.s. fiscal stimulus package is so significant, that is the reason why you are seeing some any growth forecasts

upgraded in the last few weeks. we started with our baseline scenario of 4.8% for the u.s. we shifted that up to the 6% level. many others have. i think that is down to the fiscal stimulus. that is what the u.s. has that unfortunately, europe just doesn't. guy: what do you do with emerging markets more broadly? chinese stocks i think are down, circa 15% over the last few days. we are starting to see some real money moving around in the emerging markets. i am assuming that it is flooding back towards the united states. how tough a trade is this going to be, particularly for those china stocks? seema: this is i guess in regards to when i talk about cyclical stocks. there are equity markets that have a fantastic 2021, and relies on the idea that the dollar would be that much

weaker. it is not the case, and i think the reason is again, it is a u.s. growth outperformance. the downside to the dollar is extremely limited at the moment. we think there is a case to be made digitally for a stronger dollar, which means the em currencies, it is not such a pretty story is what it began. gross is a little bit disappointing and looks like it could be an underperformer for this year for the first time in quite a long time. alix: but are at the two stories linked? the idea is if you like equities, you will go out and buy stuff. a lot of that is still made in china, or you need components from china to make it. why wouldn't that rising tide then lift all boats? seema: let me get it straight. it is certainly positive everywhere. the of us economy, -- the u.s. economy is clearly going to lift global growth. but if we do it on a relative

basis, i think the u.s. equity performance is looking a lot more favorable than what you can get from any other countries, and it is down to the fiscal stimulus package. the covid vaccine rollout has also been very impressive, so we are looking at a in the of us economy, which is already underway. this is far ahead of most other countries. we do need to consider the one element here which is potentially the game changer is the rising yields. at what point do equities start to really suffocate? i don't think we are there yet, and a lot of that is with this fomc meeting next week, but we think the equities will outperform in a strong environment. guy: as yields go higher, tech is suffering. is there a point, and at what point does it come, when that trade has gone too far? these are, particularly the big tech companies, hugely positive

companies when it comes to earnings. they have an esg factor attached in many cases. at what point do you think this tech selling period is going to come to an end? seema: this is the main question that we are getting at the moment. we have been very pro tech for a long period, and we have come into this looking at it as a secular trade. it is something which has got so much growth potential. these are strong balance sheets, companies with a lot of potential going forward, but this is a difficult environment for them. once we've had that pecan bond yields, which we do think -- that peak in bond yields, then tech looks like a little bit of a buy. this is a very difficult period for this sector, which has clearly outperformed over the last year. guy: we are going to leave it there. always appreciate your time and your insight. seema shah, principal global

investors, thank you very much, indeed. this is bloomberg.

♪ ritika: it is time for the bloomberg business flash, a look at some of the biggest business stories in the news right now. gamestop is tapping the founder of chewy.com to guide the transition to e-commerce. he will chair a new board committee in charge of gamestop's transformation. apollo global management has agreed to buy athene holding. the all stock deal values athene at about $11 billion. that represent a premium of 15% to its closing price friday. apollo was already athene's biggest investor. meanwhile, apollo reportedly has its eye on another deal. according to "the financial times," green silk capital --

greensill capital has filed for administration in a british court. court documents say greensill is in financial distress and can no longer pay its debt. that is your business flash. guy: thank you very much, indeed. some rather grim news coming, as anticipated come out of italy. the country passing 100,000 covid related deaths. we knew this news was coming. still, the shock of seeing it on a screen absolutely enormous. the ftse it

guy: 30 seconds until the end of regular trading in europe. what a session it is turning out

to be. european equities are flying. we are seeing those areas, cars and banks, doing well. the stoxx 600 up 1.2%. climbing throughout most of the day and we are at session highs towards the end of the day. the legacy from asia not very good. this is worth bearing in mind. as we came out of the session today in asia, chinese markets negative. this is what europe had to contend with. this is the one-month chart, down nearly 9%. the selling continues with a negative three session today for the csi. a negative legacy. that puts the performance today in a better light. another factor involved in what we are seeing, euro-dollar.

ecb did not step up its buying last week. the euro is down. there is a currency headwind if you are an international receiver in terms of european equities, large multinationals are doing well on the back of this. we are down around .5%. individual markets, there is the ftse 100 doing ok. the dax up 3.5%. the ftse may have -- the ftse mib in italy is up. the banking sector is doing very well. the car sector is doing really well. the auto sector is up nearly 4%. italy has a car company. germany has plenty. that is where we are seeing the drive.

anything that has a dividend yield is suffering, down toward the bottom end of the market. utilities not doing quite so well. let's look at individual names were focusing on. pearson, the numbers were not great this morning, but it is the reorganization that turn things around. pearson in the education business, sing the stop turnaround. the stock up 6%. carnival, we did see the travel and leisure stocks get hammered friday. today bounce back. carnival up 8.2%. we have seen delivery news in the u.k.. a downgrade for hello fresh pure worth bearing in mind what is happening. we are going to see more competition from a stock point of view. interesting to see whether or not people trade out of hello fresh. a downgrade today.

delivery down nearly 6%. alix: another thing we are watching is what is happening with oil. reversing the gain we saw earlier. we are now around the lows of the session despite the set -- despite the attack on the saudi oil port. drawing into question the bullish commodity thesis we've been outlining. joining us is sharon bell, goldman sachs global investment research strategist. a week ago it was going to be about the commodity super cycle. energy stocks were so high last week. are you bullish in the energy sector? sharon: we still like the energy sector. we have been liking it. our view is as we begin reopening and recovery, if you take the oil majors, a large portion of their revenue is to provide transport to aviation. that is not back yet. our view is to provide a strong

outlook of global growth, the demand coming when there is not that much supply your not working today so well but over the last two months it has been working it is expected to continue to do so. oil stocks, just the distribution of cash, given yields, maybe you could buy back this year. guy: i mentioned china a moment ago. the china growth expectations are underwhelming. i look at the mining sector and what is happening in oil and i wonder how much more there is to run. china is only going to be growing its percent. is that going to -- growing 6%. is that going to deliver the growth in the copper market, for instance? sharon: we think china will grow about 8% this year. the chinese authorities, their target is a memo level rather than what they can attain.

i think china growth will be stronger than that figure. you are right, acceleration is happening in europe and the u.s. rather than in china. the mining stocks will benefit global growth, not just in china. all of the sectors in europe, we find basic resources is the highest beta to global economic growth, not just china. alix: where you get the most beta for your buck? this is a different super cycle than we have seen in the past. it will not be driven by china manufacturing. it will be driven by decarbonization. what is the beta to that? sharon: in the first instance it will be a simple beta you have seen in previous cycles. the ones with higher beta will

do best, the ones like autos. so is the mining stocks, the energy sector, all of the financial contract spirit all of those, clearly right now the next few months -- this has been an industry completely locked out or months. unlike previous cycles it has suffered so much more. i can see the beta of that sector being higher. i expect the beta of the cyclical sectors to do well as they have done historically. guy: we were talking to seema shah earlier on, very unconvinced about the outlook for investing in european equities. do you share that view? we've just seen italy go through 100,000 covid deaths. the rollout is not going well. we will see the ecb on thursday,

the possibility of policy action, we do not know. where does europe sit? it feels like it is getting left behind. is there a period where we see catch up or do you think the u.s. accelerates away? sharon: i feel mixed on this. i would say europe has been left behind the last few years. it does not have the waiting for the tech sector the u.s. does. it is not produced innovative large companies. there are small companies coming through, but fewer large companies. the fiscal package provided by the u.s. is that much bigger. a combination of these high-growth names in the fiscal package policy provided by the u.s. has meant the u.s. market has done much better. i would say the u.s. is pricing a lot of that. the forward p multiple -- the forward pe multiple is

significantly cheaper in europe. only 17. historically very high, but still a lot cheaper than the u.s. europe is on a discount of about 25% than the u.s. compared to how it normally trades. it normally trades cheaper than the u.s. but not as cheap as it is currently. i do think europe has lagged behind a bit, but it will eventually catch up. we expect the rollout of the vaccine to catch up to spring and summer. europe to get to 50% population vaccinated by july, a couple of months after the u.s., apart from the u.k., which is more advanced in this regard. yes, europe is behind on the vaccine. yes, europe does not have the growth the u.s. does, and i feel a lot of that is in the price. alix: let's turn to

international women's day. you have done a lot of research on womenonmics. the work -- sharon: the work i've done looks at women in the workforce. europe is doing well. participation of women in the labor market has risen in the last does of decades. -- in the last two decades. in all the prime work years a woman is more likely to work in europe than the u.s.. that was not true 20 years ago. europe has made great strides at utilizing more resources women have. at the corporate level, women are contributing more. there is now about a third of board members across europe are

women. the disappointing factor is while that has moved up a lot, a huge gain in just a few years, we see very few women at the very top levels. the executive directors, the cio, the cfo level. i still think there is a lot more to go. in terms of how women can contribute to performance, my view is greater diversity is good in itself. i find the companies with the largest portion of women on their board about performed -- have outperformed. guy: is that a reason to invest in europe? if you look at the long-term trajectory, most people are investing for the long term. what impact does that have at the margin in terms of your geographical selection? sharon: i think you should not

just invest on one factor. europe is ahead on a couple of things. i would say it is getting ahead on womenomics, the representation of women in the workforce, europe is getting ahead. in some ways you could say it is because -- europe has an aging workforce and population. growth in the working age population will be negative in your. we are not that far different from japan in terms of negative workforce population growth over the next decade. that will be a drag. this might compensate for the drag but the drag is something to be aware of. i would say europe, not just on womenomics, but other areas,

europe has been pushing more in advance of asia and the u.s. on a lot of these factors. european companies score better on asg ratios, not just diversity but environmental ratios, etc., then you see in the u.s. or japan. i think that brings out the risk for companies. it should also mean they get a higher valuation with a lower cost of equity and a lower cost of capital. european companies are not just focused on europe, which are indeed slow growth economies with declining working age companies -- working age population. only a quarter of u.k. company sales are to the u.k.. the same thing with french companies and german companies. guy: on that positive note, we believe there. sharon bell, thank you very much .

we will continue discussing how women have been affected by the pandemic and the pandemic -- and the economic impact. caroline nokes will be joining us next. looking forward to that conversation. this is how european equities have been is -- have finished the session. massive outperformance from the dax. cars and banks having a very good day.

ritika: this is "the european close." coming up, former xerox chairman and ceo. that is at 4:00 in new york. this is bloomberg. let's check in on the bloomberg first word news. the cdc says vaccinated people

can visit indoors without masks. they must still wear them in public and should avoid large gatherings when they're around people who are not immunized or are at high risk of getting the coronavirus. democratic lawmakers predict president biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus bill will sail through the house tomorrow. the senate made changes to the bill to appease moderates. there are likely to prove enough to -- there unlikely to prove enough to make progressive democrats vote against the measure. elon musk -- tesla's first major foray into the epicenter of the u.s. energy economy. 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 am ritika gupta. this is bloomberg. alix: back to the cdc story.

bloomberg health reporter michelle cortez joins us. throughout the hour the head of the cdc has been talking about the new rules for vaccinated people. tell us where we are and where the questions remain? michelle: people who have been vaccinated can gather with other people that have been vaccinated. your parents grandparents, with all of their elderly neighbors. if everybody has been vaccinated they can have game nights and do not need to wear masks, they do not need to socially distance. also if there is a vaccinated person, they can gather with other members of their family without masks. grandparents can hang out with their grandchildren and children without wearing masks as long as those people who are unvaccinated are not at high risk. it is a moving target. there are so many things you do not know about the rest, about the virus itself, how long immunity lasts. the bottom line is the risks are

lower, the stakes are lower. if you've been vaccinated, get privileges now. guy: positive news. michelle, thank you very much indeed. bloomberg health reporter michelle cortez. to the u.k.. schools are reopening in england for the first stage of the economic reopening. women have been disproportionately impacted during the pandemic. the vice president of the ema spoke to bloomberg about how the crisis has affected female entrepreneurs. >> the pandemic has impacted women into disproportionate manner. we can see the impact of women on businesses, particularly the entrepreneurs. they have had more businesses closing, a reduction in sales, number of different reasons. in part it is the concentration of sectors which have been impacted because of law down,

and also because we see time and time again how female business leaders are saying chores are impacting their work. guy: how do we reverse this? how do we get women affected by the pandemic because of their service sector or what is been happening with schools, how do we get them back to work? caroline nokes is chair of the women inequalities committee in the houses of parliament. caroline nokes, thank you for joining us. kids have gone back. a huge step forward. taking care of kids at home has disproportionately fallen on the shoulders of women. many of them have had to leave the labor market. what happens next. how does government help these women get back into the labor market? you think the government is doing enough? minister nokes: we have seen scoring commitments from the government. a skills guarantee, that could be helpful for women who need to

retrain. i am worried about those who are in sectors like retail, which we know has been disproportionately impacted, and we know a percentage of the workforce are women. women have been calling for positive action to make sure things like the kickstart program, there are some places prioritized to make sure we see women helped into new sectors come into stem, into non-stereotypical careers come and careers that will be resilient to future events like this. guy: one of the thing being at home should have taught us all is the value of childcare. what more do we need to do there? m.p. nokes: you're absently right. it is almost as if the government had forgot about child care and for parents to have access to that.

we saw in formal childcare effectively banned. i know the early years sector feels it has been hard hit. they have challenges going forward round testing, particular with child minders not having access to the rapid testing regime come in i think the government needs to step up and recognize the early years sector is crying out for help. alix: i wonder if that is going to happen? rishi sunak got heat for saying we owe moms a debt of thanks for juggling childcare and work. he got some heat for that, saying that is misreading the situation, also presuming women will do the childcare and perpetuates the stereotype. what did you think about that? m.p. nokes: while it might perpetuate the stereotype, the reality we saw from surveys from

various organizations was -- difficult -- women were doing the childcare and difficult choices were being made as to who would stay at work and who would go out. -- 2020 recognition of the childcare sector, and we heard nothing on that occasion. i look to the early years for the minister to come out with proactive policies going forward. it is crucial talk about bills come in the infrastructure we need to develop, and the construction sector, but that is male-dominated. i want to see us recognize that child care is magical part of the infrastructure we need to have a workforce for the 20 -- is an intricate part of the workforce we need to have a workforce in the 21st century. guy: you think we could, for instance, think about taxing second incomes differently to encourage women and families to approach this problem differently? m.p. nokes: i am no economist,

but i recognize that what we have learned through the pandemic is sensible working can work. we heard the secretary of the treasury champion working going forward. i think we can look at things like job share and recognize for employers there is a financial penalty on that for national insurance contributions. we can recognize tax system and promote flexible working and job sharing is a real way forward that could help us make sure women's careers do not go backwards. guy: how do we take advantage of the flexibility we have all learned in working from home? if done properly, this could provide a huge advantage. if done badly, it has the potential to hold women back because it is likely to be men that returned to work first. women stay-at-home. we were talking to a psychologist from sanford who said that is a recipe for those

that stay-at-home to be left behind. how do we make sure that does not happen. m.p. nokes: we have learned through the course of the pandemic, you have to learn the lessons that flexible working can work for men as it denver women. we have had a lot of male employee -- as it can for women. we have had a lot of male employers see they can be productive, and found different ways to structure their days. we have to make sure that is just women taking advantage of it and men for getting it happens. we have to move away from that. we know the technological tools are there for schools to work more flexibly in some sections. often you get women in those sectors where you have to be present. you cannot work in retail or hospitality or the service sector remotely. you cannot do it. we have to make sure we take advantage of what we can do and

it becomes the norm. there is a huge onus on employers to recognize the presence of the 20 century, not the 21st. alix: here in the u.s., making those changes is like writing a ship that is gigantic. how quickly can something like this happen. how fast can you help these women? m.p. nokes: that is a valid point and i spent enough years as a government minister to know policy can be challenging. i do not think we have time. i want to see governments come together. the business department and the treasury to work together how they can put in place solutions quickly. we have an employment bill on the block. we are all expecting it to come forward. i want to see some of these policies included in that bill, demonstrating government can listen to what women have been telling us last 12 months and make sure their policies in place that can help.

alix: carolyn, thank you for much for your time. caroline nokes, member of parliament and chair of the women and equality committee. that wraps it up for me and guy in london and new york. coming up, libby cantrill, pimco head of public policy joins david westin. our workday is not done. guy: it certainly is not. the cable will move to bloomberg radio. we will be on dab digital radio. alix will carry on the conversation, talking about an incredible day for european equities. a firm focus on international women's day. this is bloomberg. ♪

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david: from bloomberg's world headquarters in new york to our tv and radio audiences worldwide, welcome to "balance of power," where the world of politics meets the world of business. i am david westin. the senate passed the 1.9 trillion dollar stimulus bill over the weekend. it looks like it will be headed for the president for signing later this week. to take us through where we are right now we welcome anna anderson. the senate got through. what happened next? anna: the senate made some changes which means it needs to go back to the house. we expect the house to pass the bill on tuesday that it will go straight to biden's desk. biden should be able to sign this into law by the end of the week. guy: does that mean the people -- david: does that mean the people with on employment benefits will not have interruption? anna: march 14 was the deadline. it takes a while for the money to be flowing again.