You'e Hired!

Yesterday, the Fed released the minutes from the FOMC meeting earlier in the month - they said that rising inflation was an increasing threat to the economy. While this begs to be poked and prodded, today we turn our attention instead to American television and the phenomenon known as The Apprentice.

Last week's highly anticipated season finale of The Apprentice came and went leaving most devoted fans satisfied - content, for the time being, that things are right in the world. Everyone knew that Tana didn't really have what it took to work for the Trump organization - it was Kendra who demonstrated brilliance in virtually all aspects of her extended job interview, and she was justly rewarded.

Another reality show concludes, another group of eager young applicants begin clicking their way through the online application forms for the next season, and the process begins anew.

Like many others, I find this reality show to be quite entertaining - well conceived, well scripted, and well edited. But deep down inside, a nagging feeling persists that there is something fundamentally wrong with the premise - that somehow this program is sending the wrong message to America's young business people.


At the same time, there is something about this program that is irresistible - like millions of other Americans, I am drawn to it - like a moth to a flame, unable to avert my gaze.

I am conflicted.

After careful analysis, it becomes clear that what is objectionable about the premise of this reality show is that it combines celebrity lifestyle and leveraged speculation into an easily digestible, yet unhealthy package, that is being distributed on a large scale to impressionable viewers.

Most people know that Donald Trump is a real estate developer, and most people also know that he thinks big and bets big. Most people probably don't know that he mostly bets with other people's money, and that sometimes these bets don't work out.

Most people probably don't know that the entire Trump organization went bankrupt during the recession of the early 1990s (unable to make payments on $3.5 billion of business debt), that he narrowly avoided declaring personal bankruptcy at that time (difficulty servicing $900 million in personal debt), and that the Trump casino business went bankrupt just last year (it reemerged last month).

The author of many business books, he is a master leveraged speculator who leaves the impression that big bets get you big rewards, which then gets you a big lifestyle like his - the one that he proudly displays every week.

It is likely that many of the people who bought his books and watch his show are the same people out there in today's real estate market trying to reproduce his results - they believe that this is the way you get rich. Of course many of them are getting very rich in real estate today - selling houses back and forth to each other at ever higher prices - we'll check back next year to see how it's working out for them.

A brief exchange during the season finale made clear the connection between today's real estate bubble and The Apprentice reality TV show - there was a short discussion where two of the contestants spoke of potentially joining forces and going out to Las Vegas to move into that real estate market.

After a few knowing glances and a couple nodding heads, "The Donald" weighed in, "Vegas, yeah, that market's hot".