Here is why transparency matters. Without an explanation, the present situation allows folks like me to use the limited knowledge they have to understand what is going on for self and others.
Here is how I understand the “genius” move Mr. Trump made to spin a billion dollar loss into gold. I am basing this on the analysis provided by economists explaining how a developer with what appears to be limited assets could invest and lose nearly a billion dollars and then receive multi-year tax breaks.
As I understand the explanation, Mr. Trump and those who provided funding to his company made investments that failed and the company had to sell at a substantial loss. The key here is who had the billion dollar loss. Say three individuals went in with Mr. Trump each putting in $300 million. Say the sale of what remained of the investment was worth 200 million and each investor received 50 million back. Who has lost nearly a billion dollars? One way of understanding what likely happened would be that all parties made a deal that the investors would provide funds to Mr. Trump’s company and he would provide some type of expertise with the expectation of some return to the investors. At one point the billion dollars belonged to Mr. Trump. A different interpretation would be that each party involved lost 200 million.
If the first scenario is accurate, most folks would probably not assume Mr. Trump deserved to benefit for taking a billion dollar loss when Mr. Trump or his business did not really experience this loss. Taking advantage of others for personal benefit is not what most of us consider representing business genius. Legal or not the impression it leaves matters.
For the record, the economist claimed that this scenario is no longer allowed under the law. Mrs. Clinton voted for the law that closed the loophole.
Is this an accurate representation? I don’t know. Given no additional information and an explanation that seems quite logical, it is hard to know what to believe.