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Make America capitalist again | Matthew Mitchell and Peter Boettke

In 2025, President Donald Trump expanded the federal government's influence over corporate affairs by becoming the largest shareholder in Intel and implementing significantly increased tariffs, marking a notable shift in economic policy.
This increase came after a trade dispute that boosted the average US tariff from 1.5% to 28%, including duties of 15% on European goods, 35% on Canadian products, and 50% on imports of steel and aluminum.
The president exerted control over decisions regarding company leadership, the siting of manufacturing plants, funding allocations, hiring practices, employee compensation, and branding rights, while also insisting on a 15% commission from the sales of Nvidia and AMD chips to China in August 2025.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stated, "This is not socialism," despite concerns that government ownership and regulation undermine the profit-and-loss test critical to capitalism.
Critics argue Trump's approach risks failing like socialism, which avoided market discipline and led to inefficiencies such as much longer work times required for basic goods under Polish socialism.

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Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier

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Mason City Globe Gazette

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Make America capitalist again; it drives prosperity

With the federal government now the largest shareholder of Intel, an ostensibly private company, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick wants you to know that “This is not socialism.” But if public ownership of the means of production isn’t socialism, what is?

4 days ago·Waterloo, United States

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