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Stephen Schwarzman Points to Nationalism as Big Risk for Developed World

“The concept of the center is being tested” - Stephen Schwarzman

Stephen Schwarzman Points to Nationalism as Big Risk for Developed World
Brexit protesters wave flags made up of a European Union flags, left and right, British Union flags, also known as a Union Jack, center top, and a national flag of Wales, outside the Houses of Parliament in London, U.K. (Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- The nationalism that’s sweeping the globe is among the biggest risks facing developed nations, Blackstone Group LP’s Stephen Schwarzman said.

The “geopolitical is what worries me,” Schwarzman, chief executive officer of Blackstone, said in a meeting with investors and analysts Friday in New York.

Many countries are “breaking to either the right or the left. There used to be a center,” he said. “The concept of the center is being tested.”

Schwarzman, who has contributed to the Republican National Committee and President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, also said the global economy is “quite good, led by the U.S.” He cited the U.S. move toward deregulation, tax reform and record low unemployment.

It’s “easy to have a positive conclusion” about the global economy, but “some geopolitical stuff hasn’t been reflected in the numbers.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Alan Mirabella in New York at amirabella@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Margaret Collins at mcollins45@bloomberg.net, Vincent Bielski, Mary Romano

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