Trump's economic advisory group clashes with populist image

WASHINGTON | BY JAMES OLIPHANT

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s team of economic policy advisers is packed with moguls from the hedge fund and investment banking industries that he has railed against in the past. And none of them are women - a demographic group he needs to court if he hopes to win in November.

Trump’s campaign has been powered by a populist message that criticizes corporate America for outsourcing jobs, profiting at the expense of everyday workers and buying influence in Washington. The message resonates best with middle-class and working-class voters buffeted by the forces of globalization. But among the members of the 13-member team of advisers announced on Friday are hedge-fund billionaire John Paulson and investment bankers Steve Feinberg and Andy Beal, as well as a former top steel executive and a former high-ranking U.S. government official.

"?It is a hallowed campaign tradition. Malign an industry, but court its wealthy big shots," said Erik Gordon, a professor of law and business at the University of Michigan.

The reliance on Wall Street executives comes after Trump spent much of his primary campaign lambasting the industry for paying too little in taxes. "The hedge fund guys are getting away with murder,” Trump said in an interview last year.

One of the best known of Trump's panel is Paulson, whose bet against the overheated housing market in 2007 netted him and his investors billions of dollars. His bets have since gone the other way, losing some $15 billion in the last five years.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-economy-idUSKCN10G2IO