According to The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It… Every Time by Maria Konnikova (NY: Viking, 2016 ISBN 978-0-525-42741-4), there’s a structure to the con:
The put-up picks out the mark
The play establish a bond
The rope lays out the pitch
The tale proffers the benefit
The convincer is where the conman lets us win
The breakdown is where we start to lose
The send is where the victim is recommitted
The touch is where the mark is completely fleeced.
The blow-off gets rid of the mark ASAP
The fix prevents marks from making official complaints
At this point, I think we’re up to the touch in Trmp’s confidence game and it seems to me he’s going for a full bust-out:
“The bust-out is what happens when the mob moves in to take control of a business that’s heavily indebted to a loan shark. As [William] Black [University of Missouri-Kansas City associate professor of economics and law] tells it, why the heck a mobster would ever want to take over a bar or liquor store in this way is incomprehensible to a classical economist. Why take over the business when you’re already getting every cent of profit and more in your weekly vig?
“Except that in the real world, things don’t work that way, explains Black, a professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. The reason to take over the business is to loot it 1,000 ways to Sunday, from buying vast amounts of liquor on credit to, ultimately, torching the place for the insurance money. Prosecutors and mobsters know this. Economists who think the mob operates like a bank that happens to charge high interest rates miss it.”
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/id/36002370
Great book, and it should make us all more skeptical.
My full notes on the book at http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-confidence-game-guide-to-2016.html
I am shocked the corruption angle has gotten so little attention from Democrats until now. Running with their second new slogan in a year, they are finally focused on wages, healthcare, and corruption. Far more relatable to the average voter than the complexities of the Russia case or the identity politics that will turn out our base.
I’m not surprised. Sad to say it.