Hedge fund billionaire Ray Dalio did something unusual in financial circles recently – he criticised Donald Trump. What is happening today “is analogous to what happened around the world in the 1930-40 period”, he told the Financial Times, citing “more extreme” policies, widening wealth gaps, a collapse in trust and a central bank under pressure.
“During such times most people are silent,” says Dalio, “because they are afraid of retaliation if they criticise.”
Indeed. Most executives and money managers toe the line, noted billionaire money manager Cliff Asness in a recent interview. Asness is famously blunt, but admits to feeling fear in the current environment, referring to “vindictive people” and how “disbelievers” can be punished in “an extreme way”.
There’s no danger of that when it comes to another hedge fund billionaire, obsequious culture warrior Bill Ackman. Addressing Trump’s attempt to remove Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, Ackman suggested she “immediately put forth the facts to clear her name” regarding mortgage fraud allegations or else “resign in the best interests of the integrity of our financial system. The sooner this occurs, the better for her and our country.”
READ MORE
Really? That’s the key issue here? To Dalio, the issue is autocracy; to Ackman, it is paperwork.
