Originally Posted by Ki

In case people still want to argue about whether or not he's a successful business man.

The Latest: Clinton campaign seizes on Trump tax report

SPOILER alert. Hes not. Told ya.

Originally Posted by RoxyRollah

IMO I don't know jack-**** though so don't listen to me.

Originally Posted by Franco Pepe Kalle

The problem is that most police officers in America are psychopaths.

Originally Posted by The Batlord

You're a terrible dictionary.

Originally Posted by RoxyRollah

IMO I don't know jack-**** though so don't listen to me.

Originally Posted by Franco Pepe Kalle

The problem is that most police officers in America are psychopaths.

Originally Posted by The Batlord

You're a terrible dictionary.

Originally Posted by RoxyRollah

IMO I don't know jack-**** though so don't listen to me.

Originally Posted by Franco Pepe Kalle

The problem is that most police officers in America are psychopaths.

Originally Posted by The Batlord

You're a terrible dictionary.

Originally Posted by 1blankmind

Wasn't there a recession from the mid to late 90s?

Originally Posted by J.R.R. Tolkien

There is only one bright spot and that is the growing habit of disgruntled men of dynamiting factories and power-stations; I hope that, encouraged now as ‘patriotism’, may remain a habit! But it won’t do any good, if it is not universal.

Originally Posted by The Batlord

no. pretty much all the 90s was a boom period

Originally Posted by J.R.R. Tolkien

There is only one bright spot and that is the growing habit of disgruntled men of dynamiting factories and power-stations; I hope that, encouraged now as ‘patriotism’, may remain a habit! But it won’t do any good, if it is not universal.

Originally Posted by The Batlord

I was 5-6 at the time, so I don't know.

Originally Posted by snopes

Trump: Good or Bad Business Record?

So how are we to rate Donald Trump's business acumen in relative terms? Is the cautious businessman who minimizes risk, rarely fails, and shows a moderate return better than the brash businessman who often takes on highly risky pursuits, strikes out a lot, but also hits his share of grand slams? That's too subjective a question for us to answer, and the few numbers offered in this trope aren't very informative.

It's an oft-cited statistic that Donald Trump "has" 515 companies, but a number of those businesses are only connected to him in tangential ways (e.g., through licensing agreements) and aren't owned or directly controlled by him.

It's also an oft-cited statistic that about 80-90% of businesses fail within the first year to eighteen months, but such numbers typically refer to startups and small businesses, while much of Donald Trump's business empire involves expanding and building on existing large business lines and ventures.

Citing four or six failures out of 515 efforts isn't very enlightening in the absence of a real context in which to evaluate those numbers. A pro athlete who won 511 out of 515 matches would be acclaimed among the world's greatest, and a songwriter who hit the Top 40 with 511 out of 515 tunes would be heralded as the preeminent composer of all time. But a doctor who lost four patients out of 515 might find little demand for his services, and a commercial pilot who crashed four times in 515 flights would likely have a hard time finding an employer (or any passengers willing to fly with him). There is no meaningful standard to apply here.

The most important takeaway from this trope might be that you can't sum up the world of big business. much less any presidential candidate's qualifications, with a couple of numbers devoid of explanation or context.