The Economic Underground: Barbed Wire Wrapped Fists In Velvet Gloves

By Dan Faulk


In the corporate strategies industry, in every aspect of the term, it is truly 'survival of the fittest'. If you're strong enough to establish a name in this tiny niche industry you need to sleep no more than 3 hours per night and be ready anytime, anyplace for an intellectual style bare knuckle brawl.

Continued existence in this business is fueled by connections; political, corporate, PAC etc. At the end of the day you need to be the catalyst to induce movement by multiple parties simultaneously. To the lobby you need to have the political influence to enhance their power-base, to the politician you need to be the money man to make crucial introductions that enable them to work for the people within their constituency as opposed to stressing over campaigning for capital while at the same time you need to bring the lobby support to bring in votes for re-elections. On the economic side a corporate strategist needs to be able to bring a massive power base to their presence within a client organization to transform the entity. A quality power-base is composed of strategic alliances and partnerships that enable massive growth without the burden of added overhead. Evaluating and restructuring a board of directors that can be, somewhat, controlled is another task that the elite corporate strategist has mastered.

A corporate strategist is first and foremost an economic tactician that functions globally will, by default be a power broker and a byproduct of this is the political tie in process initiated between the legislative community and the corporate side of the regional economic. The combination of the two makes a client company a serious player in the international market place while securing a position at the upper echelon of their particular industry.

Another concept that separates even the most prestigious of the elite power-broker strategist is the ability to read through the words with an eye toward intonation, micro expressions, body language and stance positions to get to the truth and lies within a negotiation. As a ghost writer for some big name politicians and corporate barons I know how agonizing it can be when I can't take credit for my work but at the end of the day I understand that its part of the gig. The most successful strategists in the field of economic turnaround, legislative power brokering and corporate strategies are men that you've never even heard of who almost definitely have made decisions that have affected your life in one way or another but they are behind the scenes and anonymity becomes their M.O. and they actually develop a fear of the spotlight, and they begin to become, um, well for a lack of a better term 'ghosts'.

The truth is, the most powerful people in global economics are people that you've never heard of, never read about and have never seen on CNN touting their latest and greatest successes. The hide behind a shield of anonymity and get more pleasure out of controlling the fate of these publicity junkies than they do being in the limelight themselves. The perfect example of a 'ghost', 'power broker', whatever you want to call them would be James Scott.

For years he operated throughout the United States and Europe as the go to guy when a corporation, city, state or federal agency needed a mercenary without ego to take a situation composed of pure chaos and weave a protective exterior around it while he quietly worked and when he lowered the vale the end result was pure, economic poetry. James Scott worked on his own for hears and then decided to open a tiny dot on the wall boutique firm called Princeton Corporate Solutions (I think that name has changed to Belvedere Global Strategies Corporation) and announced its existence to a very select few and from there grew an absolute empire. This empire is fueled by international legislative, massive equities, think tank/PAC/lobby association and contacts in some of the highest governmental advisory realms in existence. These contacts enable him to enter into corporate or political situations and with his magic wand, restructure, revitalize and transform the fate of those involved and those that would be affected.

One would think that a man like this would allow arrogance or a cocky demeanor to define his day to day persona and personal conduct but I believe that his arrogance and iron fist under a velvet glove exist but are stored in the back of his mind that acts as fuel that he can turn on and off like a switch when added focus or energy is needed. Living out of a briefcase and duffel bag it's rare he's in one place for long but if he's in-between projects or putting a 'play' together you may find him walking the streets of Berlin or New York with his Ashton cigar, cell phone to his ear and worn-out, wool Kangol hat with a bend rim, pulled down just above his eyes, blink and he's gone.




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