Bad for Business

As an attorney in an industry that constantly needs large infusions of capital – film, television and digital media – I am in a pretty good position to gauge our relative standing in the world by understanding the reactions of global investors to American-based opportunities. The China capital faucet turned off in the summer of 2017 due to their internal governmental policies, then having less to do with the growing animosity between the US and the People’s Republic. Although Arab money had been increasingly unpopular, particularly after the Khashoggi murder by Saudi operatives, the dearth of capital from other parts of the world somehow legitimized what had been perceived as “money with blood on its hands.”

While our currency remains fairly stable, notwithstanding the deficits since every other nation in the world is facing major COVID-related economic issues, our international standing is suffering at every level. When discussing a nine-figure potential investment with a German investment representative, I was told point blank not to expect any funding from Germany until Donald Trump’s destabilizing presence was clearly gone. Wow! Even within the United States, his trade policies, his trade war with China and the hard fact that there is no way to achieve a real economic recovery under COVID-19 is well-contained – which Trump has totally mishandled – are pushing fiscal business conservatives into the Biden/Democrat camp. Even beyond the Lincoln Project.

Republicans have dominated donations to national and local candidates in past elections, but Donald Trump’s negative impact on business seems to have reversed that tide. For example, “Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has dramatically outpaced Republican President Donald Trump in total fundraising during the final months of the campaign ahead of the Nov. 3 election, and that is also true when it comes to winning cash from the banking industry… Biden's campaign and other fundraising vehicles supporting his campaign have pulled in roughly $3 million from commercial banks, compared with just over $1.4 million for Trump, CRP [Center for Responsive Politics] data shows.” Reuters, October 27th.

Internationally, the power and influence of the United States, the ability to maximize US business interests overseas, continue to plunge. “In the eyes of much of the world, the United States is a potent yet faltering force, a conflicted nation heading into an election that will either redeem it or tug it farther away from the myths and promise that for generations defined it in capitals from Singapore to Paris and Buenos Aires to Nairobi.

“The stature and standing of the U.S. have plummeted in recent years, a number of international polls suggest. That trend has been exacerbated this year by what is widely perceived to be a disorderly and ineffectual governmental response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and now by a chaotic electoral process.

“For some, a once-bright beacon of egalitarian values has faded into an aloof, disfigured power… ‘The United States was always a model to follow,’ said Gloria Jácome Torres, a 41-year-old lawyer in Mexico City. ‘Since I was a student, I always viewed the United States with admiration — everything they did there with respect to human rights, the level of education, personal liberties.’… But particularly during the last four years, her view has been soured by what she sees as a pattern of cruelty and callousness emanating from U.S. officialdom, as seen in the mistreatment of migrants and racial injustice laid bare…

“Bilahari Kausikan, a former Singaporean ambassador to the United Nations, said the fevered atmosphere surrounding the U.S. election Nov. 3 reminded him of the 1970s, when he lived in the United States and saw firsthand a superpower racked by turmoil and questioning its direction… ‘That, to me, is a period of self-doubt that was perhaps even worse, because you were defeated in war in Vietnam, the economy was in shambles, even worse than it is now. The racial polarization was always there,’ he said. ‘And it’s not just America — all Western democracies go through periodic paroxysms of self-doubt. But people should not underestimate your ability to regenerate yourself.’

“Nevertheless, in places such as Germany — where, within living memory, the United States served as a much-admired protector — angst over the mercurial American path in recent years has become palpable… Germany, which is Europe’s biggest economy, is one of the United States’ closest traditional allies, but the relationship has been severely strained by Trump’s angry outbursts over the defense spending and trade policies of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government.

“Olav Schrage, 48, a cardiologist in Berlin who has often visited the United States, said many of his compatriots view Trump as a ‘total fraud’ and an ‘appalling person.’ But what truly worried him, he said, was that ‘so many [Americans] are OK with that, and not only accept that, but also applaud it.’” Los Angeles Times, October 27th. Instability, erratic and unpredictable policymaking, jingoistic nationalism and mythology-driven populism are deeply antithetical to corporate business interests. Overt racism, in a globally diverse world, is equally problematic for international business.

No matter the election results, the mere existence of a substantial and seemingly unmovable American populist base continues to erode global confidence in the United States. While this evangelical populism and “America First” nationalism (the intentionally racist phrase from the early 20th century) has remained fairly constant since the 1970s, Donald Trump emboldened that constituency, whose self-importance is unlikely to subside in the foreseeable future. Can the United States recapture all or most of its lost stature? Time will tell. One way or another, the United States appears to have lost its claim to a moral high ground.

I’m Peter Dekom, and those “fiscal conservatives” who support Trump’s vision of the Republican Party are shooting themselves in the head.