Trump-con-omics: What the President-Elect, Uber, and Peter Thiel Teach Us About the U.S. Economy

America is in a rather curious predicament: with its citizens protesting: "Not My President," in every city across the United States, as British academics are theorising (or rather hoping) that the President-elect will be impeached in his first few months in office, whilst world leaders have expressed concern over the President-elect's short fuse and penchant for stepping on the toes of everyone from someone's grandmother, to the French President to Saudi Royals.

But somehow, the elite in Silicon Valley has decided that Mr. Trump, the reality TV star figurehead is their choice as the next President. So let's take a closer look at how the President-elect's new fiscal and foreign policies might impact the United States and the global economy.

War on the European Union
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The President-elect has made no secret about his anti-EU position. Along with Brexiter Nigel Farage, who has tweeted on "bringing down the EU," the two have colluded together with their antics of fearmongering and racial divide in what Mr. Farage calls, "post-Brexit values."
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The U.S. President-elect Donald Trump with Nigel Farage, Leader of the U.K. Independent Party wants to take down the E.U.

These "post-Brexit values" also predominantly include dismantling the unity of the E.U. which had been put in place after WWII, and also puts Silicon Valley tech corporations in a favourable position of retribution at a time when the European Commission under the leadership of Jean-Claude Juncker has been clamping down on U.S. multi-national corporations by proposing tighter regulations on on tax loopholes. In addition, anti-trust charges have been filed against Google, and privacy violation charges against Facebook came to a landmark decision last year. Furthermore, price fixing structures have been filed against Amazon and numerous other U.S. multi-national tech corporations (Intel, Qualcomm, Oracle, Microsoft et al) are all under scrutiny as they have been charged with tax avoidance and manipulation of prices.
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In effect, Silicon Valley tech giants have been accused by European consumer groups of stockpiling user's data for commercial ends and Mr. Juncker has proposed a new E.U. internet plan that could potentially dismantle their collective power. Critics in the U.S. have said the European Commission is using tighter regulations against Silicon Valley companies in the hopes of creating regional versions of Google and Facebook.

In summary, an integral part of the President-elect and Nigel Farage's "post-Brexit values" would be to deliberately obstruct the E.U. and in support of keeping the current dominant power structure of Silicon Valley tech giants in Europe.

"The election of Trump poses the risk of upsetting intercontinental relations in their foundation and in their structure." -European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker

In comparison, Hillary Clinton's "Stronger Together" campaign had proposed a solution to work with both E.U. regulators and Silicon Valley tech companies to negotiate a compromise that does not alienate either party.

Anti-Globalism: Isolationist Tactics Against East-Asia

On the campaign trail, the President-elect has spoken in favour of the idea of nuclear proliferation among U.S. allies and to call on Japan and South Korea to pay more share in expenses of security cooperation with the U.S. Furthermore, the President-elect has threatened to "punish" China for its currency manipulation and limit trade by pushing tariffs. This is coinciding at a time when the previous administration had been attempting to assuage tensions over disputes in the East and South China Seas.

Bite the hand that feeds you?

With China as the #1 holder of U.S. debt, with Japan as #2 holder of U.S. debt, this could send a clear message of impending isolationist tactics that could also threaten U.S.'s trade relationship with both nations.
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In 2014, for the first time in 140 years, China overtook U.S. as the world's largest economy. China is also the largest holder of U.S. debt.
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The President-elect's plans call for withdrawing from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and his plan to put tariffs on every product that is imported into the U.S. from China could potentially face a backlash against many American companies that are dependent on the production of goods in China. The further irony of this is that the President-elect also has many products in which the "Trump brand" is Made in China.

The Donald J. Trump Collection: Made in China.

To further his agenda, the President-elect wants to leave the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) which Hillary Clinton had worked to propel as Secretary of State. From a security perspective, the approaching breakdown of the Trans-Pacific Partnership would be a loss of American credibility in Asia, as Asian nations begin to accelerate their own defense security.

The Russian-Syrian-Iranian Quotient

The President-elect's alliance with Vladimir Putin could endanger the U.S. diplomatic relationship with the U.K., in addition to the rest of the nations in Europe. Several U.K. political leaders, including Former Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind has accused Russia of having "blood on its hands" after vetoing a United Nations resolution which had called for a ceasefire in Syria. An emergency meeting was called in over the weekend by European foreign ministers to discuss what the President-elect's policies could mean for the European Union's current bloc on Russia. The President-elect has also said he would end an agreement with Iran that scaled back its nuclear programme.
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More than 6.6 million Syrians are displaced, and more than half are women and children. The extermination of people in Syria has drawn comparisons to Hitler's Final Solution of Jewish people in WWII.

The slaughter of people in Syria has been compared to the extermination of Jews during Nazi Germany. Russia has a strong financial stake in the survival of the Assad regime in Syria and is blocking international action against Syria.

To add more woe to this dialogue, aside from the President-elect's compliance and open support of Russia's foreign policies, his stance on immigration would ban Syrian refugees from entering the United States. It is estimated that 6.6 million people, of which more than half are women and children, are displaced in Syria.

Trump, Uber and Peter Thiel: Propagating a Debt Society

Although Peter Thiel is known for his prescience in his early investment in Facebook and PayPal, Peter Thiel's hedge fund Clarium Capital shrank from $8 billion in 2008 to just $211 million today in 2016. Is it has been reported that Clarium's assets under management made a series of unprofitable investments and client redemptions which have declined by 98% in recent years. In a similar comparison, the President-elect has a long list of financial and business failures, some of which still in litigation and and due to having a high amount of debt compounded by business losses, Mr. Trump openly spoke about not paying any tax at the Presidential Debates last month as "being smart."
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Some of the President-elect's list of failures include: Trump Steaks, Trump Airlines, GoTrump.com, Trump Vodka, Trump Mortgage, Trump: The Game, Trump Magazine, Trump University, Trump Ice, Tour de Trump, Trump on the Ocean, The Trump Network, Trumped! talk radio, Trump New Media, Trump Casinos et al.

Although one has to give the President-elect credit for being persistent, and America's entrepreneurs are admirable in that they do not fear failure, it is clear that there is a distinct pattern of behaviour that extends beyond the American philosophy of entrepreneurship and more towards a philosophy of wanton gambling.
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Uber pulled out of China in August of this year and was reported to have $1.2 billion in losses for the first half of 2016

Uber, the unicorn company currently valued at $50 billion, was reported to have lost $1.2 billion in the first half of 2016, which have lead analysts to say that this is now entering "uncharted territory"; as the largest losses during the early dot-com boom in the early 1990s does not compare to the current losses that Uber is facing as a single company. Like the President-elect, Uber used its brand recognition in an attempt to integrate different services: UberRush (delivery service), UberEats (food delivery service), UberSelect, UberX, UberPool et al, all without much success in order to expand its userbase and services. Whereas early Uber competitor, Hailo, a UK based taxi hailing company, sold 60% of its company in a successful exit to German car giant Daimler in January in what is considered a smart move; Uber has been postponing any attempts to exit or launch an IPO because the majority of the latter funding series has been through debt refinancing, in which they are liable to pay off debt with future earnings.

As Peter Thiel is set to join the President-elect's transition team, if anything can be predicted from their combined history of investment and business strategies, there might be reasons why Americans are feeling nervous about what their economic policies might mean for the average American.

The Ramifications for U.K. Startups

As tensions between U.S. tech companies and the E.U. grow, in addition to the tensions between the U.S. and Asia; and U.S. and the U.K., a pattern is emerging of the United States' transformation into an increasing isolationist nation with the new President-elect.

A potential highlight is the postponement of Brexit by Parliament declaring that it alone has the power to trigger Brexit, as this gives U.K. politicians and legislators time to consider a second referendum on an unpopular decision that could derail the U.K.'s future relationship with the E.U. and Asia.
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Simon Segers, CEO of Arm Holdings (left) with Masayoshi Son, Founder of Softbank (right). Masayoshi Son will team up with Saudi Arabia to launch a $100 billion tech fund, the largest fund in the world.

However, as the tides of power shift and with Japan's Softbank, which recently acquired Arm Holdings for £24.3 billion and the iconic Masayoshi Son teaming up with Saudi Arabia to launch an unprecedented $100 billion Vision Fund, it seems more likely that for U.K. startups and companies, looking towards the East for funding would be in line with its future than looking towards its American cousins.

Mass Exodus of Americans

As the negative sentiment grows in response to the new President-elect figurehead, many American celebrities have previously said that they would leave the country if Mr. Trump becomes President. Even such political figures such as Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg joked in an interview with the New York Times in July that it would be time to leave for New Zealand if Mr. Trump were to win.

Michael Moore, the documentary filmmaker who had predicted Mr. Trump's win, also predicted that he doesn't think the President-elect figurehead will last through his first term while others have predicted Mr. Trump as a one-term President. As protests of the Presidential election gain global traction in the public, petitions have been signed to abolish the electoral college, and to secure voting polls to prevent electronic hacking of the results. It has even been circulating in the media that Hillary Clinton will run again in 2020. Whatever the state of the world may be, keep calm and carry on.

By Sierra Choi

Carl Sagan: You are Here