Bloomberg by Bloomberg, by Mike Bloomberg


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BOOK REVIEW by OnTheIssues.org:

This book was supposed to be Bloomberg's autobiography in preparation for his presidential run -- published in January 2019, which was just the right timing to get started in the Democratic primaries -- but then he withdrew from the race in March 2019. OnTheIssues was disappointed, because we had invested a lot in covering his nascent candidacy, including this book! (In other words, we were surprised by his withdrawal). Bloomberg says he will spend millions on resisting President Trump and supporting his opponents candidacies and policies. That's probably a wise path for Bloomberg to pursue his interests, but this book prepares for the different path of a presidential candidacy, so we'll describe that path.

There's an old version of Bloomberg's autobiography, with the same title and some of the same content, written in 2001. This new version, written in 2018, is described as " Revised and Updated," but it's really more of a full rewrite. Yes, Bloomberg still tells his personal story, and the story of the rise of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg News -- we excerpt some of those details from both the old version and the new version. The real relevance of this book is Bloomberg's outline of his policy beliefs:

• Climate Change: Bloomberg has pushed for action on global warming (p. 223) and will presumably support Gov. Jay Inslee, who has declared climate change aa the focus of his presidential campaign.

• Public Health: Bloomberg most famously instituted a smoking ban in NYC (p. 227) but also worked on communicable diseases (pp. 179-80) -- a different take than most Democrats who focus on health insurance and Medicaid.

• Gun Control: Bloomberg has a long history of anti-gun advocacy but doesn't address it in this book, perhaps because the student-based anti-gun movement has taken over the mayoral-based movement Bloomberg started,

• Corporate Reform: Bloomberg, despite his personal wealth, has a redistributionist philosophy (p. 236 and p. 187), and despite his corporate history, believes in corporate transparency (p. 62 and p. 157). This would have been Bloomberg's primary contrast with President Trump, who opposes redistribution and transparency.

Alas, that contrast with President Trump will not happen, since the mainstream media won't report on Bloomberg now that he is out of the presidential race. But Bloomberg's ideas are worth a look anyway -- he really does present an alternative way of looking at business than does Trump. That would have been an important contrast, since Democrats will otherwise continue along the path of fighting corporations instead of using corporations to work towards more progressive policies, as Bloomberg has.

The political pundits obsess over whether Bloomberg's withdrawal opens a "wealthy businessman lane" for fellow billionaire Howard Schultz (it does not; Bloomberg got elected as mayor and planned to run as a Democrat, while Schultz never did either); or a "centrist lane" for Joe Biden (it does not; Biden is a liberal while Bloomberg leans progressive, but the mainstream media doesn't know how to make that distinction). Bottom line: when you hear discussions about "lanes," it's best to change the channel because using the term "lane" means the pundits speaking have not bothered to understand the issues. Or better yet, turn off the TV and go read OnTheIssues, so you can understand the issues better than the "lane"-blathering pundits.

-- Jesse Gordon, jesse@OnTheIssues.org, March 2019

Addendum July 2019:

Bloomberg's rationale for running -- to spend millions resisting Preisdent Trump -- is the same rationale as fellow billionaire Tom Steyer. Yet Tom Steyer "withdrew" from the presidential race in January 2019, but this month (July 2019) he changed his mind and formally announced his candidacy, and then flooded the airwaves all month with countless political ads. So we got a glimmer of hope that Bloomberg might do the same, and decided to dig up our old book review (outlined prior to Bloomberg's "withdrawal" in March 2019. Here it is; our take on his book and our take on his potential candidacy:

Is Mike Bloomberg eligible to run for the presidency? His credentials are two-fold: he's a self-made billionaire, and he was mayor of NYC. In traditional political thinking, neither of those criteria are sufficient for eligibility. But Donald Trump claimed his billionaire status was sufficient credential, and Bloomberg is more self-made than Trump. And Rudy Giuliani demonstrated that New York's mayorship can be a serious credential (and three other mayors -- Buttigieg, Castro, and Messam -- have entered the 2020 field since then). In other words, Bloomberg's eligibility is unquestionable in the context of recent years.

Bloomberg shares an important characteristic with Trump -- Bloomberg likes to put his name on everything. That serves an important political purpose of making "Bloomberg" a household name in a large percentage of the population across the country, and one might interpret his spreading his name as cunning yet important well-in-advance work for a presidential run (like Trump, some would say). Bloomberg's name-list includes:

• Bloomberg Machines: Bloomberg made his initial fortune on data terminals that provided timely business information (p. 83).
• Bloomberg Killers: The "Bloomberg Machines" became so ubiquitous that competitors described their competitive terminals as designed to "kill" Bloomberg's monopoly (p. 113).
• Bloomberg Magazine: A print publication expanded into Bloomberg Press (p. 121-2).
• Bloomberg Information Television: (BIT for short): 24/7 business news broadcast on five continents (p. 117).
• Bloomberg Business News: (later shortened to Bloomberg News, p. 129): This has long been one of OnTheIssues' news sources; they bought out Business Week in 2009 (p. 83).
• Bloomberg by Bloomberg: Of course this book, too, is an example of Bloomberg's obsessive spreading of his own name.
Many people forget that Donald Trump ran for the presidency in 2000, and even pubishhed a policy book, The America We Deserve. We interpret Bloomberg's book as having the same purpose -- establishing credibility for the long-term, so he can run when he sees the opportunity to run. But Bloomberg turns 77 years old in 2019, so his opportunity really needs to be in the 2020 race.

-- Jesse Gordon, jesse@OnTheIssues.org, written Dec. 2018; published July 2019

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