New Yorkers crave informed and intelligent business and economic news. WNYC's Money Talking brings you just that with lively conversations that go beyond the headlines and the jargon to explore the most important business stories of the week. Every Friday join Jeff Greenfield as he hosts regular WNYC contributors Joe Nocera (The New York Times) and Rana Foroohar (Time). Context, conversation and insight. That's WNYC's Money Talking.More from Money Talking »
The President, His Business Partner, and the Fundraiser
It's an oddity about covering President Trump's potential conflicts of interest: certain names keeping coming up. For example, Elliott Broidy. In April, the Republican National Committee announced the appointment of three national deputy finance chairmen: President Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen, North Carolina businessman Louis DeJoy and Broidy. What went unnoted, according to a search of stories published at that time, was that Broidy had pled guilty eight years earlier in a pay-to-play scheme involving public pension investments. Broidy's 2009 guilty plea was spectacular news: then-New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo had caught former New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi in a kickback scheme involving the state's retirement fund for public sector workers. According to his guilty plea, Broidy gave Hevesi $1 million in gifts "as a reward for giving preferential treatment" to Broidy's investment fund, Markstone Capital Partners. As Cuomo described it, Broidy paid for five personal trips for Hevesi and his family to places like Israel and Italy — trips that included airfare, luxury hotel suites and a helicopter tour. Broidy even invested in an obscure movie called Chooch produced by a pension official's brother. In 2012, a judge reduced his felony plea to a misdemeanor after he repaid $18 million to the state. Broidy also left Markstone. He currently runs his own firm, Broidy Capital. Broidy's run-ins with the law came to our attention while we were reporting about the CIM Group, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm that has played a key role in real estate deals involving Donald Trump and his son-in-law, and now White House adviser, Jared Kushner. CIM handles investments from public pension funds: Reuters reported that at least seven state pensions have provided money to the company. When New York officials were investigating the pay-to-play scheme in their state, Broidy was also a member of the city of Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension Board. According to a Los Angeles Times investigation, Broidy voted to invest $30 million of pension funds with CIM, without disclosing that his own private equity fund had received $500,000 from the firm. The Securities and Exchange Commission investigated the parties for fraud, but neither CIM nor Broidy were sanctioned for the actions in California. Several years later, Broidy is now one of the most significant fundraisers for the Republican National Committee. He was a major fundraiser for Trump's inaugural committee. And during the presidential campaign, he raised money for Trump's Victory Fund, a joint Trump/RNC fundraising committee. This places Broidy, once convicted of bribing government officials to enrich his own company, in the position of soliciting giant donations for Republican causes and candidates. The inaugural committee, which is separate from the RNC and the presidential campaign, broke records for fundraising. According to an analysis by the nonpartisan OpenSecrets.org, most of the $107 million raised came from industries that stand to gain from Trump administration priorities. Asked about Broidy's previous role in the pay-to-play prosecution in New York and his current role as a political fundraiser, a spokesman declined to comment. Ryan Mahoney, a spokesman for the RNC said, "This is well documented and in the past. There's a point at which somebody has paid their debt to society and Elliott has done that."
The President, His Business Partner, and the Fundraiser
Executives from the major television networks came to New York City this week to promote their shows for the fall in what's known as the upfront. The networks hold big, swanky presentations and exclusive parties to lure advertisers, who are expected to spend billions of dollars on these shows — even as ratings are falling and users are increasingly turning to streaming services like Amazon, Hulu, and Netflix. This week on Money Talking, Host Charlie Herman talks with John Koblin of The New York Times and Joe Adalian, with New York Magazine's Vulture.com, on whether ratings matter, as well as how network TV is changing.
Just a few years ago, J. Crew was admired for attiring Michelle Obama, and for delivering solid profits. But now, the company is cutting jobs. The Wall Street Journal reports "sales at its stores open at a least a year have fallen for the past 10 quarters." In other retail news, Abercrombie & Fitch is looking to sell itself, after its share price dropped by half. Ralph Lauren has closed its Fifth Avenue flagship store, suggesting that even upscale retailers can no longer afford upscale rents. The New Yorker's Joshua Rothman has been trying to figure out what's happening to branded fashion, and writes about J. Crew in his piece "Why J. Crew's Vision of Preppy America Failed." This week on WNYC's Money Talking, host Ilya Marritz talks with Rothman about what's ailing J. Crew, and what it means for everyone else who's trying to lure humans into little boxes to pick up threads and put them on plastic.
France is getting ready to vote for its next president on Sunday, May 7. The choice is between independent centrist Emmanuel Macron, or far-right nationalist Marine Le Pen. And while there are many echoes in this presidential campaign of the recent presidential election in the United States, there are a lot of differences, too. The French are also facing a choice about how much they support the European Union, or, if they chose Le Pen, are looking for the Frexit. This week on WNYC's Money Talking, host Charlie Herman talks with Rana Foroohar with The Financial Times and Rob Cox with Reuters about what the French election means, especially for the U.S.
Trump Unveils Plan to Cut Taxes, Who Will Benefit?
President Donald Trump unveiled his tax reform plan this week, promising more details in the weeks ahead. He wants to cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 15 percent, saying it will unleash economic growth. But it remains to be seen whether that will actually create more jobs. The president also wants to eliminate deductions, like those that individuals take for paying state and local taxes — a proposal that could hurt residents of New York and New Jersey. There are also questions about how the administration will pay for the plan and who stands to benefit the most. Although there's little chance of everything being proposing getting through Congress, this is a president who likes to negotiate. This week on WNYC's Money Talking, host Charlie Herman talks with Ben White, chief economic correspondent for Politico, to find out what we can learn from Trump's opening bid.
Trump Unveils Plan to Cut Taxes, Who Will Benefit?
President Donald Trump is quickly approaching his 100th day in office. Get ready for the White House (and the media) to take stock. The benchmark itself is a bit of construct that goes back to FDR and the Great Depression; however, it's become a measure to assess a president's leadership style, as well as his early successes and failures. In his first 100 days, Trump has signed executive orders on immigration and climate change. He's also been defeated in his attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare. But he successfully appointed a Supreme Court justice to the court. This week on Money Talking, host Charlie Herman talks with Rick Newman of Yahoo Finance and Catherine Rampell of The Washington Post about whether or not Trump has lived up to the promises he made voters on what he'd accomplish in his first 100 days.
Retailers are falling on hard times. Giants like Macy's, Sears and J.C. Penney are closing hundreds of shops, leaving empty shopping malls and vacant storefronts in cities and suburbs throughout the country. While the economy continues to recover from the recession and consumer spending slowly rises, the future of brick-and-mortar shops that cater to the middle class remains unclear — hobbled by online retail and a population that's choosing to spend more money on travel and dining. And not only do ghost town malls hurt the prosperity of surrounding communities, when shopping centers default on loans they risk setting off a chain reaction on Wall Street, with echoes of the housing crisis. This week on Money Talking, Derek Thompson of The Atlantic and Hayley Peterson of Business Insider take a look at the future of malls — and the effect new shopping habits are having on the economy.
Student Debt: Can't Live with It, Can't Go to School Without It
With the deadline approaching for high school seniors to pick which college to attend, students — and their parents — are considering how they will pay for the financial burden of higher education. The cost of private and public college tuition has been rising faster than inflation in recent years, even as financial support from state governments has declined. While individuals and society largely benefit from a college-educated workforce, a recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found too much debt might have long term consequences. Student debt totaled $1.3 trillion at the end of last year, more than double what it was 10 years ago. The Federal Reserve found mounting debt could ultimately hurt consumer spending, home ownership and the upward mobility of low income students. This week on Money Talking, host Charlie Herman takes a look at the long term effects of student debt with Rana Foroohar of the Financial Times.
Student Debt: Can't Live with It, Can't Go to School Without It
After the attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare failed last week, there was a lot of discussion about what this meant for President Trump's future agenda: how it could complicate tax reform or get in the way of an infrastructure spending bill. Lost in all the political noise was the fact that millions of Americans are still covered under the plan, and its future rests largely in the hands of the Republican administration and Congress. The House, for example, could refuse to provide subsidies to insurance companies so they can offer plans to low-income people. Without that financial assistance, insurers might stop offering coverage. It's the kind of uncertainty that could drive insurers out the marketplace in many states. This week on Money Talking, Tami Luhby of CNNMoney and Jeffrey Young with the Huffington Post discuss what's next for the Affordable Care Act.
Before landing a position as a White House senior adviser, Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law, worked on making a name for himself in Manhattan real estate. And in 2007 he purchased a skyscraper on Fifth Avenue for $1.8 billion — at the time, a record deal for a single office tower. A few years after the financial crisis, 666 Fifth Ave. ran into financial problems and was eventually able to refinance its debt. After joining the president's team, Kushner sold his ownership stake in the building to a family trust and resigned as CEO of Kushner Companies. Last week, Bloomberg reported that the Chinese firm Anbang Insurance Group has been talking with Kushner Companies about a possible $4 billion investment deal in the building. Anbang has said it had not invested in the building. This week on Money Talking, David Kocieniewski with Bloomberg News and Hiten Samtani with the Real Deal review the history of the skyscraper and why Anbang might be interested in investing in it.
