Billionaire Cliff Asness: Can Technology Outrun 'Stupider and Stupider' Government?

The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie

"I feel fear… because they're somewhat vindictive people. I don't care who you are, having this set of people mad at you is not comfortable." That's today's guest, Cliff Asness, talking about President Donald Trump, his administration, and his supporters. Asness is the outspoken billionaire co-founder of AQR Capital Management. He is also a pioneer in quantitative finance, University of Chicago Ph.D., and self-described "part-time Republican and full-time libertarian." He talks bluntly about why Trump is spectacularly wrong on tariffs and trade, his concerns about the authoritarian tendencies of the president and his supporters, and how capitalism may actually be getting less efficient due to social media.

Asness tells Reason's Nick Gillespie how he came to his libertarian beliefs, where right-wing populism overlaps with its left-wing version, and why he thinks free minds and free markets will eventually win—but only after a long slog. This conversation was recorded live at an event in New York City.

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1:17- Asness's hedge fund: AQR Capital Management

4:15- The state of capitalism

7:30- From delusion to grift

10:51- Trump, tariffs, and comparative advantage

13:48- Is the Trump administration "grifting"?

16:30- Criticizing Obama and Biden

17:42- Is Trump the naked emperor?

23:57- Markets are not perfect

30:45- Social media's effect on markets and politics

37:07- Asness' politics and background

40:40- Does the arc of history bend towards libertarianism?

42:00- Left & right economic illiteracy

44:29- Median income has increased, morale hasn't

47:01- Politics rewards resentment

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