Bryan Tyler Cohen January 23, 2024January 22, 2024 His first five minutes: the age thing. Worth sharing widely. (Faithful readers may recall from earlier this month how much they would have left on the table if they’d thanked Warren Buffett for his service at age 82 and sold their shares out of concern for his age. Spoiler alert: a further quadruple.) The Economist: What a second Trump term would mean for American business and the economy . . . Businesses often say that what they fear most is uncertainty. With Mr. Trump that is guaranteed. This unpredictability could make a second Trump term very much worse than the first. His administration would lack establishment types like Gary Cohn, once of Goldman Sachs, to shuffle the president’s in-tray and hide the madder ideas from him. More moments like January 6th are possible, as is a full-on revenge presidency. The idea that in this scenario business leaders could keep a low profile and focus on EBITDA is fanciful. Employees, customers and the press would demand to know where bosses stood and what they proposed to do. The administration might in turn take exception to every whiff of criticism. In the long run, the idea that corporate profits can be insulated from societal upheaval is a fantasy. If Mr. Trump is broadly corrupting of American politics, and businesses are seen to profit from his rule, that poses a big risk to them in the future. In Latin America, when big businesses have become associated with autocrats the result was usually that capitalism was discredited and the appeal of socialism rose. That seems unthinkable in America. But so, until recently, did a second Trump term. In case you can help, click here.