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Trump’s Empire: a Maze of Debts and Opaque Ties
This is an indepth article on Donald Trump's financial holdings, looking at the debt that Trump has built up in his real estate dealings, by Susanne Craig of the NYT. To get a detailed look of this the NYT inquiry into the holdings engaged RedVision Systems, a national property information firm to search publicly available data. Much of Trump's business is shrouded in mystery. But it is well known that Trump has used debt to build his business in a way that is not considered good practice in business, having led to three bankruptcies. Trump says he "is the king of debt." And "he loves debt." The recovery of real estate values during a rescue effort for the country's financial system also helped Trump tackle debt in a way that was not available to other entrepreneurs who suffered from the oil price collapse- one of them McClendon also used debt aggressively and his business collapsed leading to suicidal car crash. You can love excessive debt only if the government supports you with some sort of financial guarnatee misplaced, or you are lucky to get away with it- just ask McClendon. The irony is that the rescue of the financial system led to the low interest rates that hurt savings of the middle and working class, and the lack of help to Main Street in the home foreclosure crisis also hurt the same people disproportionately. The Obama administration policies in this regard rescued the very same business interests such as the New York real commercial estate symbolized by Trump, that are now appealing to those hurt as president Obama worked to let the financial system recover. The intention was never to support excessively overleveraged banks or overleveraged real estate built on debt, but in reality this is what happened.
A nation cannot run its financial affairs in this manner of overleveraging to extract high profits that an investment bank such as Lehman or Goldman Sachs does, or a real estate company such as Trump's does- if regulators let them do this. Normally after the financial crisis of such dimensions that it shook the world economy in 2008-2009 leading to fears of a collapse as happened in the 1930's, the same faces would not still be there. But this is a strange period or a transition period where things are being sorted out, and the same faces Blankfein at Goldman Sachs and Trump in New York commercial real estate are with us. And though the bashing of Goldman Sachs connection to Clinton is evident in the campaigns of Trump and Sanders, the bashing of Trump real estate and finance companies with its overleveraging and bankruptcies is evident in the campaign of Clinton against one posing as a representative of the working class. John Paulson who benefitted by shorting mortgage securities that caused the financial crisis of 2008 is on Trump's top economic advisory team, including the hedge funds and financial interests on Wall Street that Trump is saying support Clinton. No one, not the NYT or WSJ, can answer this, its just the paradox of today's situation.
Hillary Clinton can say she has learned her lesson, with her Methodist upbringing and her own supporters such as Robert Reich and others, and break with the past especially as it in no way contributes to her success as president, not one bit. In fact rebuilding the middle class and infrastructure require entirely different connections and views on life, a different imagination. Trump has billions of dollars and a real estate business that is so complex that even the NYT and property information firms can only say that in the end it is shrouded in mystery. Companies owned by Trump says the NYT from this inquiry have debt of $650 million. Other Trump business activities through 3 passive partnerships owe an additional $2 billion. It is a lot easier for Hillary Clinton to put the speech fees behind her as they have little to do with what she is as a Methodist and a proponent of improving women's lives, than it is for Donald Trump- for whom his business is everything that he is including his art of the deal- to reject who he is.
Donald Trump's business empire- business built on debt and shrouded in mystery, and a comeback from the 2008 crisis that was about overleveraging
08/20/2016
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Trump’s Empire: a Maze of Debts and Opaque Ties
The New York Times 08/20/2016
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Donald Trump's economic advisory team with John Paulson, and many businessmen from the hedge funds and financial industry- at odds with the image of being with Main Street
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The 2008 financial crisis hurt the prospects of older white Americans who faced higher unemployment. It also led to the rescue of the financial industry and rates dropping to zero hurting the savings of ordinary Americans, and as the FDIC's Sheila Bair pointed out not much done to rescue homeowners under water. During the 2008 election candidates John McCain and Barrack Obama, both had connections to the real estate and financial industry, to lobbyists for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as cited in the media. This time is no different with Clinton and Trump both having connections to Wall Street yet seeking the support of ordinary Americans hurt by the 2008 financial crisis. The only difference is that Clinton faces a movement within her party led by Bernie Sanders that calls for a different approach this time. There is also little difference between the economic team that Jeb Bush put together in its connections to Wall Street with Columbia University Business School Dean Hubbard and that of Trump.
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Donald Trump’s new team of billionaire advisers could threaten his populist message
Washington Post 08/05/2016
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WSJ 08/09/2016
Trump’s Empire: a Maze of Debts and Opaque Ties
The New York Times 08/20/2016
If Trump Gets His Way, Real Estate Will Get Even More Tax Breaks
The New York Times 09/01/2016
Where Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump Stand on Wall Street
WSJ 09/16/2016
New Clinton, Trump budget numbers
POLITICO 09/22/2016
Financing of the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign of 2016
10/16/2015
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Hillary Clinton Bets on Future With Spending Spree to Build Campaign Infrastructure
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Hillary Clinton invoked 9/11 to defend her ties to Wall Street. What? - The Washington Post
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Clinton blasts Wall Street, but still draws millions in contributions - The Washington Post
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Fund raising by U.S. presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in 2015-2016
01/02/2016
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Bernie Sanders raises more than $33 million in latest fundraising quarter - The Washington Post
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Clinton, Sanders Offer Strikingly Different Messages on the Stump
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In 24 hours after Iowa caucuses, Sanders donors pony up $3 million, aides say - The Washington Post
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Clinton blasts Wall Street, but still draws millions in contributions - The Washington Post
Washington Post 02/04/2016
Bernie Sanders’s fundraising prowess boosts his post-New Hampshire efforts - The Washington Post
Washington Post 02/10/2016
The U.S. Democratic Party in 2016- a struggle for the soul of the party after Obama
02/03/2016
With huge support among young people the Bernie Sanders challenge to Hillary Clinton represents a struggle for the soul of the Democratic Party between Hillary's plan for incremental change and Sanders call for major changes in education and healthcare.
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Hillary Clinton on economic issues in 2016
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Trump’s Empire: a Maze of Debts and Opaque Ties
The New York Times 08/20/2016
WSJ and NYT on Trump's real estate financial dealings and surviving a severe financial crisis in the 1990's
01/04/2016
This account by WSJ reporters shows how Trump survived a severe financial crisis in the 1990's involving his Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City- his dealings with the banks, financial maneouvring that helped him escape the worst effects of the crisis, and what it tells people about how Trump would perform running the U.S. government.
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Trump’s Empire: a Maze of Debts and Opaque Ties
The New York Times 08/20/2016
If Trump Gets His Way, Real Estate Will Get Even More Tax Breaks
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Donald Trump's finances and tax returns
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Every presidential candidate should release full tax returns - The Washington Post
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Jim Vandehei of Politico on the difference between destructive disruption and constructive disruption that brings new ideas and leaves a better world
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Vandehei says most of the ideas used in the campaigns of Trump and Sanders are not new, and the effects of the 2008 financial crisis have been covered widely in the press. That the elites have ignored it, and Tump and Sanders have capitalized on this, does not mean America cannot come up with its own constructive ideas to solve existing problems than take risks going into the unknown. Both Trump and Sanders have drawn attention to the problems of poverty, working class Americans, trade, and wages, but lack constructive programs that would work. A 45% tariff on imports would not work, and poverty is bettter tackled with a growing global economy and private sector initiative. He says he is from two small towns, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and Lincoln, Maine, and knows what it is like for ordinary Americans struggling to make it.
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ZEIT ONLINE 07/29/2016
Trump’s Empire: a Maze of Debts and Opaque Ties
The New York Times 08/20/2016
New Clinton, Trump budget numbers
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Hillary Clinton won New York, but her image is underwater - The Washington Post
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Hillary Clinton's corporate ties and fundraising
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The Clinton Foundation and fundraising efforts.
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Hillary Clinton’s Complex Corporate Ties
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The Daily 202: Hillary Clinton makes her Wall Street problem worse - The Washington Post
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Trump’s Empire: a Maze of Debts and Opaque Ties
The New York Times 08/20/2016
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Trump's business empire- overleveraging, debt, excessive risk, and shrouded in mystery, what the WSJ calls "a narrow escape"
08/20/2016
The business dealings of Trump do not reveal the wisdom and financial best business practice that will be needed to get the middle and working class in the U.S. back on its feet, and to build the country's infrastructure and defense needs.
Linked Articles
Trump and His Debts: A Narrow Escape
Wall Street Journal 01/04/2016
Trump’s Empire: a Maze of Debts and Opaque Ties
The New York Times 08/20/2016
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