Submission Statement: Donald Trump's MAGA approach to economic policy is a bizarre hybrid of free-market libertarianism and state capitalism, with the only common thread binding the two together is fealty to Trump. Show loyalty to Trump (or at least don't oppose his agenda), and he will lavish favors on you – reduce regulations, attack competitors, award contracts, and weaken oversight. Trump's FCC approved Skydance's acquisition of Paramount only after a $16 million "donation" help Trump settle a lawsuit. Trump has battered down many of the institutional guardrails and any pro-worker policies; a massive tax cut for corporations and the wealthy, gutting the CPFB and NLRB, rolling back post-2008 restrictions on the banking sector, pardoning financial scammers, etc.
On the other hand, Trump has shown no hestitation at leveraging the power of the state to fit his economic goals. Trump has expanded state interests, formally considered unthinkable by orthodox GOP thought, by taking ownership stakes in Intel, U.S. Steel, and Nvidia. The levying, then unlevying, then relevying of tarrifs seem to follow little common sense or logic, save for whatever seems to please Trump in the moment.
"By tearing down generally applicable restraints on corporate behavior while selectively exerting direct influence to reward his allies and punish his critics, he has managed to preserve all the flaws of the old Republican economic approach while introducing new ones that are even worse."
Posted by TrixoftheTrade
2 Comments
Didn’t the US have an equity stake in GM in 2008? It’s fine to be upset about the Intel deal but it doesn’t seem unprecedented or “unthinkable.”
Trumpist policy is only bizarre when you view it through the lens of traditional American politics, something (alas) most analysts are still doing. Trumpism ceases to mystify once you accept as your first premise the fact that this is a fascist movement and that policy and ideology are secondary (if even that) to whatever gives the fascists more power.