Donald Trump is a Mediocre Businessman

[edhopper]

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/01/donald-trump-mediocre-businessman

I know I've beaten this dead horse before, but I continue to be a little surprised that no one has seriously attacked Donald Trump on his business acumen. After all, it's his big calling card: he knows how to negotiate great deals and he's made a ton of money from them.

But this doesn't seem to be true.1 In fact, he seems to be a pretty mediocre businessman. Today, for example, the New York Times tells the story of Trump's 1988 purchase of the Plaza Hotel. As even Trump admits, he was so enamored of owning it that he overpaid significantly and managed it poorly, something which contributed to his eventual financial downfall:

[Hoyt]

1. He's a greedy bully racist, that's all that counts for GOPers.

[Nay]

2. He's a guy who started out rich due to his rich father. There's a story

somewhere about how he's a lousy businessman because if he had put his inheritance into something like a bond fund, he'd now have 3 times as much money as he actually has today. IOW, he's been LOSING money all these years playing around with real estate. It was a hobby.

[edhopper]

3. Forbes looked at that

they said if he simple invested in a stock index fund he would be worth around 8 billion instead of the 3 billion he is now.

[Nay]

4. Yeah, that must be where I read that. What a hoser. nt

[pinboy3niner]

5. A CNN guest said when Trump did business with China, the Chinese beat him like a (something) donkey

I don't remember who the guest was but that cracked me up.

[Wounded Bear]

6. I believe the idiom is ....

like a rented mule. Since that is about Trumps equivalent intelligence level, it fits.

[Wounded Bear]

7. Historically....

businessmen make shitty presidents. Some of the worst presidents, I believe. High levels of corruption and general inability to do anything except allow other businessmen to run rampant and wreck the economy.

[Gothmog]

8. I remember Trump airlines