On its face, you would think that the partnership between big business and a developer/salesman peddling a more extreme version of the Bush era tax cut and deregulation alchemy would be a marriage made in heaven. And for some, it may be, but the overall picture is more complex, for the following reasons:
- As I’ve noted in the past, the victory of a chaos agent in November is likely to lead to a worldwide fall in the markets, and a recession;
- Any business that relies on exports, or uses overseas companies in its supply chain, will struggle to deal with Trump’s economic nationalism; and
- Trump will attempt to use all of the regulatory authority at his disposal to harass his enemies. Don’t be surprised if he makes a point of regularly “inviting” unfriendly business leaders with financial interests in foreign countries to the White House for Putinesque public reamings: the bully pulpit being used by, well, a bully.
Keep your bags packed, Mr. Cook.