Chelsea's husband is a vivid illustration of crony capitalism. In fact,

[cali]

it's difficult to imagine anything cronier.

Oh, and a vivid illustration of disaster capitalism too. They were betting on austerity.

[scscholar]

1. Trying to help Greece is crony capitalism?

I don't think so.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Hedge funds aren't in the business of "helping" anybody

but themselves. He invested in Greece not to help it but because he thought he could make money on it, but then its economy collapsed and the fund lost most of its value. What hedge funds do is "mine" profits, sometimes from ailing corporations or other entities, and leave an empty husk when they've taken as much as possible.

[scscholar]

8. There's a huge problem with lack of captial in Greece

And several groups have tried to help.

[cali]

9. That s awesomely off the mark as pertains to this fund

[egalitegirl]

46. Low information votes think they are!

That is how they also got fooled into supporting candidates who voted for the Wall Street bailout. They think Wall Street banks are like charity organizations. Don't underestimate the stupidity of these low information voters. There is a reason that they were blackmailed into voting for a certain candidate with threats that they would otherwise go to hell in the afterlife. They can be easily fooled.

[Bonobo]

3. Oh god, my sides!

[notadmblnd]

53. I'm thinking the HRC campaign's labor pool is drying up.

nt

[grasswire]

4. pathetic nt

[Fumesucker]

5. Irony is so seldom appreciated these days...

Chelsea and hubby's new $10 million NY condo ain't gonna pay for itself.

[Art_from_Ark]

31. Didn't you know? They don't care too... much for money,

money can't buy them.... uh.... I seem to have forgotten the rest of it.

[cali]

7. Your name is not fitting.

[dchill]

30. Depends on what "sc" stands for.

IMO.

[Art_from_Ark]

32. LOL

[panader0]

13. Hey scholar--do you know what hedge funds are?

I've read several of your posts today. You need to go back to school.

[840high]

17. I'm sure all the Clintons and

their son-in-law are all heart.

[Scootaloo]

29. "Help"? I'm sorry, but you can't possibly buy that line

[Art_from_Ark]

33. Sounds like someone just fell off the turnip truck

and landed smack dab in the cabbage patch.

[LiberalArkie]

63. While the cabbage patch was being mechanically harvested.

[BillZBubb]

43. Wow. A mind is a terrible thing to waste, Mr. Scholar.

None of the money vultures circling Greece were trying to help Greece. They were trying to make a buck (OK millions of bucks) off a desperate country. Blood suckers is the best description. If the Greek people suffer under forced austerity, the blood suckers make a fortune. Real altruists.

[zentrum]

67. Can you explain

……something to me? As I read about his fund he bought Greek Bank debt and then betted that the Greek economy would recover.

Did he hope that it would recover (only in the narrow sense of course, in that the bankers would get their money back) because the people accepted austerity? I don't understand how it works.

My metaphor for all this is that there's a sick person and a hedge fund operator pays the medical bills, with other people's money, and bets that the patient will get better. The people who gave the hedge their money hope to get repaid with interest because the once sick person is going to work his ass off as soon as he gets better. Is that an apt analogy?

And if the patient dies——the bottom line is, all these people who tried to profit off a sick person, are screwed. But what would have been the effect if the patient had, in fact, gotten better?

[beastie boy]

72. That's a pretty good metaphor. Let me try to expand on it.

The hedge fund was actually buying the debt of a sick man, for pennies on the dollar, because, due to the patient's present condition, his creditors didn't expect him to pay much of it back. The hedge fund was counting on the patient to get well enough so he can go back to work and repay the full amount (or close to it) to them, making a hefty profit. High risk, high reward, potential for quick turnaround.

At some point, it has become apparent that even though the patient is not going to die, his condition will not improve anytime soon for him to start repaying his debt. As far as the market goes, his debt is now worth less than what the hedge fund acquired it for because there is now greater certainty that the patient will never pay back his debt.

The hedge fund invested in the patient's debt when it was worth something, and now it is worth nothing.

[beastie boy]

73. Thanks for the email, zentrum.

I am trying to test this thread to see if it is indeed locked.

[Kall]

69. Good Lord.

[catnhatnh]

6. NoNo...

this one is merely a disaster any normal worker would be fired for. The NEXT 25 million he gets to gamble is the crony part...

[Nye Bevan]

10. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with hedge funds.

They are similar to mutual funds but with less regulation about what they can invest in, and the investor has to pay a fee of (typically) 20% of the profits to the hedge fund manager if the fund ends up making a profit. Obviously in this case the fund made a loss so there was no success fee and the guy's reputation has taken a big hit. I don't see a problem in rich people paying others to invest their money and paying a fee based on the profit. The disgraceful thing is the fact that the hedge fund managers are taxed at the capital gains tax rate as opposed to the ordinary income tax rate, which is a loophole long overdue to be fixed.

[cali]

11. Hedge Funds are lightly regulated. That in itself means that as they now stand

there is indeed something intricacies mnemonic basically wrong with them.

[TwilightZone]

24. I presume you meant "intrinsically". Alan Grayson was running a hedge fund while in Congress.

You supporting his primary opponent as a direct result?

[zeemike]

22. You left out the 2% they get off the top.

Win or lose.
So if they invest a billion that is what, 10 million?...hell I would lose it for them for a lot less and willingly pay the taxes on it...what would that be 35%

[Nye Bevan]

25. You are correct.

Another reason why I would never, ever, invest in a hedge fund. I'll stick with the Vanguard S&P 500 index fund which charges (I think) 0.1%.

[1939]

49. 39.6% NT

[reACTIONary]

57. Thanks! Good observations. Eom

[woolldog]

12. I'm not feeling sorry for

hedge fund investors who have lost money. Can't manage to scrounge up any sympathy for them. Sorry cali.

[truebluegreen]

14. Why would you think that anybody

--aside from the first response--has any sympathy for them?

[panader0]

15. Whooosh!

[jalan48]

16. Chelsea's going to need to up her current $75,000 speaking fee to help the fam make ends meet.

I'm sure Hillary can line her up with plenty of work.

[miyazaki]

18. what could pasty cheeks say that's worth that much?

or any of them really.

[Beaverhausen]

34. Pasty cheeks? What are you -12?

This passes for good political discourse?

Grow up.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

40. Probably learned it from Rush Limpballs n/m

[Art_from_Ark]

36. Depends on whether it's before or after July,

or before or after November.

I imagine there'll be a substantial discount in speaking fees if they don't return to the White House.

[BillZBubb]

44. Yep if Hillary gets elected the Goose that lays the silver eggs

will be upgraded to gold. Chelsea can name her price. The Clinton cash machine will kick into high gear. Not that any of that easy money will influence policy (wink, wink).

[6chars]

42. Do you mean Dr. Clinton?

[Laura PourMeADrink]

19. so what girl? Irrelevant

[Egnever]

20. Maybe

He did work at Goldman sacks for 8 years before marrying Chelsea though. Having said that his parents were congress critters themselves. It is entirely possible he is crony capitalism incarnate. Both parents were out of congress though before he graduated college and went on to goldmans.

[libdem4life]

27. His parents had some, shall we say, ethical lapses as well.

[Person 2713]

35. Wasn't his father in jail for money matters?

[libdem4life]

37. Yes, and the mother, as I recall, had issues as well.

But like most white collar crime or infidelities, nothing much happened.

[Person 2713]

39. I think substantial jail time for the father at least but leaves from trees or apples or something

Edit to add old union guy had a post with info

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141448398
The father had 31 charges of felony fraud in 2001 and spent five years in federal prison

He admitted scamming his friends and family out of $10 million in a Ponzi scheme.

[libdem4life]

50. Locked thread. Why am I not surprised?

[Cassiopeia]

21. Yep.

[beastie boy]

23. Define crony capitalism.

I doubt it means what you think it means.

[Ghost Dog]

47. Crony Capitalism

... The essence of a corrupt state is “crony-capitalism”. It is the deployment of covert influence to subvert the disciplines of the market and revenue. It is bribery, tender-fixing, lobbying, tax-evading and otherwise abusing political power to secure individual or corporate gain... - http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/12/crony-capitalist-corruption-david-cameron-british-tax-havens-avoidance

Crony capitalism is a term describing an economy in which success in business depends on close relationships between business people and government officials. It may be exhibited by favoritism in the distribution of legal permits, government grants, special tax breaks, or other forms of state interventionism.[1][2] Crony capitalism is believed to arise when business cronyism and related self-serving behavior by businesses or businesspeople spills over into politics and government,[3] or when self-serving friendships and family ties between businessmen and the government influence the economy and society to the extent that it corrupts public-serving economic and political ideals... - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crony_capitalism

[beastie boy]

55. Under your definition, Chelsea's husband is nowhere near quakifying.

If you are referring to his Greek hedge fund, it did not use "covert influences to subvert the disciplines of the market' . No "close relationship between business people and government officials" is apparent. it was a high risk/reward venture, totally above water, with investors either being aware of the risk or being monumentally stupid. In either event, the venture was between the investors and the hedge fund, with no government officials facilitating any aspect of it.

If you are referring to something else, your statement is totally generic with nothing specific to substantiate it.

[TwilightZone]

26. Alan Grayson was running a hedge fund while in Congress.

I see plenty of people, including plenty of Sanders supporters, wholeheartedly supporting him.

Should they be?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

41. I'm not a fan of Grayson.

He's a loose cannon who seems to be as ethically flexible as Hillary.

[dchill]

28. The absolute croniest!

Betting on austerity is a tell.

[libdem4life]

38. Add to that a Known Name...Clinton-Mezvinski...and investors are easier to

be convinced to part with their money.

[Ghost Dog]

48. Greece as example of Disaster Capitalism

- ... a deliberate strategy of "shock therapy". This centers on the exploitation of national crises to push through controversial policies while citizens are, Klein contends, too emotionally and physically affected by disasters or upheavals to mount an effective resistance... - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shock_Doctrine

[Gman]

45. Nice try at cleaning up GD

[sendero]

51. The only thing is...

... his "cronies" took a big haircut and I cannot be too unhappy about that.

[RandySF]

52. And I see you provide nothing to back this up?

Seriously? My post was hidden when I exposed Jane Sanders' failure at Burlington College?

[Kingofalldems]

66. Of course there is nothing to back it up.

And it's a GDP post.

[NewImproved Deal]

54. More Clinton Family Sleaze...

America can do better than this Social Parasitism...

[link:|

[zentrum]

56. Yup.

[Nitram]

58. Real classy, Cali. Now you're going after the kids.

I guess nothing is out of bounds for a die hard Bernie fan.

[Throd]

59. They are adults.

[cali]

64. Kids?? He's 38.

[Kingofalldems]

68. What office is he running for?

Oh wait his MIL is running. That's what this is about.

[Nitram]

70. You don't get it, do you, Cali. Kids = Children

How is it relevant to go after the children of a politician with whom you disagree? No class at all.

[book_worm]

60. Why are you bringing the primary wars to GD? Keep this stuff in GD-P

[jwirr]

61. I hate to think what the Foundation is doing with their

"charity". This kind of economic thinking is not good for anyone - no matter where they live.

[pansypoo53219]

62. vulture crapitalism. but greece is not dead.

[taught_me_patience]

65. Absolutely no facts to back up your claim

In fact, it's pretty clear that you have no idea what crony capitalism is. It appears that the intellectual extent of your "analysis" is

1) read article
2) see: "clinton", "hedge fund", "greece"
3) assume: crony capitalism!

[Kingofalldems]

71. Three more weeks.