Trump economic adviser Tom Barrack, CEO of Colony Capital, spoke at the July Republican National Convention. CREDIT: AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill.
Trump has announced his economic policy advisory team, all men, five Steves, and one person with a Ph.D. Naturally, the amount of actual economists on the economic policy advisory team is short, to say the least. Economists on economic policy? That would be silly. Or something.
Steve Roth, a fellow real estate investor and the billionaire CEO of Vorando Reality. Roth and Trump reportedly co-own a Manhattan office tower together.
Harold Hamm, an oil and gas billionaire and chairman and CEO of Continental Resources. He served as an energy adviser to Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign and as a major donor to the pro-Romney Restore Our Future super PAC.
Howard Lorber, president and CEO of Vector Group — a company that owns both real estate and tobacco companies.
Steven Mnuchin, a hedge fund investor and co-CEO and chairman of Dune Capital Management, he is a longtime friend of Trump’s despite the candidate’s public criticism of hedge fund investors. In May, Trump appointed him national finance chairman for the campaign.
Tom Barrack, another real estate investor and CEO of Colony Capital. He founded Rebuild America Now, a pro-Trump super PAC. During the Republican primary, Trump denounced super PACs and requested the return of all donations to any supporting him, but he hasn’t rejected their support during the general campaign.
Stephen M. Calk, CEO and chairman of Federal Savings Bank. He has been a critic of the Obama administration’s banking regulations.
John Paulson, another billionaire hedge fund manager and president of Paulson & Co. Paulson, made billions of dollars in profit from shorting the market during the 2007 housing bubble.
Andy Beal, a billionaire investor and founder of Beal Bank. In addition to making a huge profit buying up undervalued assets during the 2008 recession, he has made waves as a mathematician and high-stakes poker player.
Steve Feinberg, the secretiveCEO of Ceberus Capital Management, a private investment firm which specializes in “distressed investing.” Among the firm’s assets: Remington, the manufacturer of the AR-15.
David Malpass, founder and president of Encima Global, a economic consulting and research firm. He held positions in the Reagan and George W. Bush administrations and unsuccessfully ran for the New York Republican U.S. Senate nomination in 2010.
Peter Navarro, a business school professor and anti-China author. He has praised Trump’s “peace through economic and military strength” strategy as “right out of the Reagan playbook.
Stephen Moore, the Heritage Foundation scholar, former Wall Street Journal columnist and founder of the anti-tax Club for Growth. His economic predictions have been wildly inaccurate.
Dan DiMicco, the former president and CEO of steel giant Nucor Corporation. DiMicco authored a 2015 book urging a return to American manufacturing.
Via Think Progress.
Sounds like a bunch of guys who are gonna be pretty sure that taxes for the rich need to be cut. And, uh, was there anything else?
Marcus:
Don’t think so. These are blatant Pocket Picks, all people who are handily, and most likely, deeply in Trump’s pocket. After all, us peons can certainly count on a bunch of white male billionaires to have our best interests in mind, yeah?
After all, us peons can certainly count on a bunch of white male billionaires to have our best interests in mind, yeah?
I’m stunned that the working class have apparently concluded a billionaire tax cheat is “on their side” because, uh, he says so.
Marcus:
No shit. I’m completely flabberghasted by that myself.
The right wing in the US is glaringly scary evidence of the effectiveness of propaganda. And again, much of the effectiveness of propaganda and the trends of the right wing can be explained by authoritarianism.
He has praised Trump’s “peace through economic and military strength” strategy as “right out of the Reagan playbook.
Shit, dude, I’m sure that’s an apt description, but that should in no way constitute praise.
In other news, foxes named Steve appointed to guard henhouse.