Manny Friedman, founder of EJF Capital, discusses the scale of unrealized capital gains in the United States and the impact of federal Opportunity Zone legislation.
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Friedman: Tax incentives will force all US startups into Opportunity Zones
“It's going to encourage every single business that's going to start up United States. It's going to force it for tax reasons, for economic reasons, to be in an opportunity zone.”
Opinion
Friedman: The Community Reinvestment Act has largely been a failure
“The truth is, it's been a failure to a great extent, because there's so much paperwork, it's so artificial at times, that you make non-economic investments, and the money disappears, and that gets people upset, gets everyone upset.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Friedman advises shorting Silicon Valley and selling Palo Alto real estate
“In fact, I would short Silicon Valley right now. If you have real estate in Palo Alto, you should be selling it, because if you're in Silicon Valley, you're, Except for a small place in Silicon Valley, which is an opportunity zone, those businesses are all goi…”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Friedman: Active managers will profit massively when indexation hits 95%
“I'm waiting for the day when the key is to have staying power to last, is when, you know, the machines or the indexes are 95% of the market. Then you'll make money hand over”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Friedman: Opportunity Zones Will Negatively Impact Traditional Real Estate Markets
“It's going to have a negative impact on a lot of real estate that's in more traditional areas.”
Prediction Didn’t hold up
Friedman estimates Opportunity Zones will increase US GDP by 0.4%
“We estimate it'll increase GDP by four-tenths of percent.”