{"id":85295,"date":"2025-09-11T06:00:52","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T10:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=85295"},"modified":"2025-09-05T15:17:31","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T19:17:31","slug":"the-end-of-free-market-capitalism-in-the-usa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2025\/09\/the-end-of-free-market-capitalism-in-the-usa\/","title":{"rendered":"The End of Free Market Capitalism in the USA?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe free-market capitalism that saw this nation prosper like no other is no more.\u201d<\/p>\n

So says Irwin Stelzer, director of economic policy studies for the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank.\u00a0 The London Times<\/em> has published his article entitled\u00a0 Trump sees off the free-market capitalism that enriched America<\/a>.\u00a0 It begins:<\/p>\n

The Art of The Deal has come to government. President Trump wants a piece of the action on transactions needing government approval or funding. He wants equity stakes in an ever-increasing number of America\u2019s major corporations, giving him a say in what those corporations invest in, from whom they buy, to whom they sell, whom they fire and much more. The free-market capitalism that saw this nation prosper like no other is no more.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\nHe goes on to list, one by one, the steps President Trump has taken to have the government own shares in once private companies.\u00a0 We discussed some of these in an earlier blog post<\/a>.\u00a0 Steltzer cites these transactions:\n

(1) AI chip-maker Nividia was allowed to set aside trade restrictions to China if it pays the U.S. government 15% of the proceeds.<\/p>\n

(2) Apple was given exemption to the tariffs, as long as it invests billions of dollars in American factories.<\/p>\n

(3) Nippon Steel was allowed to buy U.S. Steel, conditioned on its giving the government a \u201cgolden share\u201d of stock that will give the Trump administration major say in the company\u2019s operations.<\/p>\n

(4)\u00a0 Chipmaker Intel was given big subsidies by the Biden administration, which Trump turned into an equity stake.\u00a0 The U.S. government now owns 10% of Intel.<\/p>\n

(5) Another deal in the works is with MP Materials, makers of rare-earth magnets, that will make the Department of Defense\u2013sorry, the War Department\u2013the company\u2019s largest shareholder.<\/p>\n

(6) Another deal forthcoming is with defense contractor Lockheed Martin.\u00a0 Because 90% of its revenue comes from the government, President Trump is demanding an ownership share.<\/p>\n

On top of all of this, President Trump has seized the macroeconomy in his own two hands by claiming personal authority to impose whatever tariffs he pleases, thus upending world trade and thus the economies of the whole world<\/em>!<\/p>\n

Economists have long linked free markets with individual freedom, state control of the economy with the power of government to decide which companies prosper and which industries provide jobs in which states. Trump has displaced those market forces with, well, himself.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The government now owns 10% of Intel\u2013but what about Intel\u2019s competitors?\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t that disadvantage them?\u00a0 Intel was failing, so Biden gave them a billion-dollar subsidy, which became the pretext for Trump\u2019s demand for equity in the company.\u00a0\u00a0Normally, when a company falters, the marketplace raises up competitors who offer better products or lower prices, forcing the original company to do the same or shut down.\u00a0 But either way, the result is better products and\/or lower prices for consumers.<\/p>\n

What incentive will Lockheed have to design better aircraft and other defense technology if the government, being one of its owners, will buy its products anyway?\u00a0 And how can private companies compete against that?<\/p>\n

Steltzer, who cites how socialist Bernie Sanders is applauding these measures, concludes that American free market capitalism, which has created untold prosperity for this country, is over.<\/p>\n

That is surely an exaggeration.\u00a0 President Trump\u2019s \u201cstate capitalism\u201d initiatives are small scale in the vast scheme of things.\u00a0 The private sector is alive and well.\u00a0 But that Republicans now support the government\u2019s incursion into the private sector sets an ominous precedent.\u00a0 Leftist have been wanting to do that for a long time, so once the Democrats come back in power, they can be expected to go all-in on what the Republicans started.<\/p>\n

But \u201ccapitalism\u201d has become a dirty word, not only for the Left but also for the Right.\u00a0 A study this summer<\/a> found that nearly two-thirds (62%) of young adults under 30 had a positive view of socialism.\u00a0 Over a third (34%) had a positive view of communism<\/em>!\u00a0 The good news is that 59% also had a positive view of capitalism.\u00a0 The fans of both socialism and capitalism must overlap, which is probably what kind of economic system is emerging today.<\/p>\n

But now we\u2019ll be seeing what happens when we abandon the system that has brought Americans unprecedented freedom and prosperity.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Illustration:\u00a0 Capitalism Is Over If You Want It<\/a> by Thomas Hawk via Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A conservative economist laments, “The free-market capitalism that saw this nation prosper like no other is no more.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":85445,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,13,19,35,36],"tags":[7497,16943,2043,16937],"class_list":["post-85295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-america","category-economics","category-government","category-philosophy-2","category-politics","tag-free-market-capitalism","tag-president-trumps-economic-policy","tag-socialism","tag-state-capitalism"],"yoast_head":"\nThe End of Free Market Capitalism in the USA?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A conservative economist laments, "The free-market capitalism that saw this nation prosper like no other is no more."\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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