Curtain Raiser: Ben Stein to Keynote Atlanta ACG Capital Connection on Feb. 8
Here’s a preview of what the self-proclaimed “most famous economics teacher there has ever been” will say
February 7, 2012
To borrow a phrase from a different presidential election, it’s the economy, stupid, that keeps Ben Stein up at night.
“At this point, the structural problems are so big,” he tells Mergers & Acquisitions in an interview.
Ever since he tried to educate a classroom full of suburban high school students about voodoo economics in John Hughes’ 1986 teen-angst comedy, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” Stein has been asked to prognosticate about the economy.
On Feb. 8, he’ll be the keynote speaker at Atlanta ACG Capital Connection, where he plans to address issues, including the country’s “mismatched labor force” and the enormous amount of debt which will “lead to default.”
“I’m betting on the dollar rising a lot,” says the former host of hit TV show, “Win Ben Stein’s Money.” “Over a long period of time, we can’t maintain this level of foreign trade deficit.”
What happens next could be “catastrophic,” says Stein. “We either wind up being a colony of the Chinese, or make a drastic revision in the value of currency.”
Steering his thoughts toward private equity, Stein says he isn’t phased by the debate centering on carried interest, and whether or not PE sponsors should be taxed the 15% capital gains rate or the ordinary income tax rate.
“It doesn’t really bother me if private equity is taxed at the capital gains rate,” says Stein. “If the investment is really one of money, you should be taxed at the lower cap gains rate. If you’re trying to role labor into that—actually that seems fair too—it’s a capital gains situation.”
Stein also feels that presidential candidate and Bain Capital founder Mitt Romney “has a very good chance of winning.”
The “Rip and Strip Mitt” being portrayed in the media is not a fair representation of the candidate, Stein insists, citing the seven years Romney spent at Bain.
“I don’t think he’s done any actual looting of a company,” he adds. “He received a law degree and an MBA at Harvard at the same time—an incredibly difficult thing to do. He’s an impressive guy.”
For more information on related topics, visit the following:
