Hello, everybody, and thank you for tuning into the weekly report.

Congressional ratification of President Trump's corporatism.

Despite regularly denouncing the rising socialist menace,

President Trump has been pursuing a policy arguably just as, if not more, dangerous to liberty and prosperity

as anything proposed by Mondami or Bernie Sanders, using government funds to purchase

partial ownership of private companies. The Trump administration has obtained ownership interests of approximately $27 billion

in 30 companies since January of 2025.

While President Trump and his defenders claim making these investments will benefit the American people,

the truth is this policy will harm most Americans.

The policy distorts the capital markets by incentivizing investors to support these

companies because the investors believe government's ownership interest

creates a de facto government guarantee of a stock's value.

For example, after the government announced it would acquire 10% ownership in chip manufacturer Intel, the company's stock price

had a big increase. When investors allocate their resources to companies because government

is supporting those companies, capital is deprived to businesses that can thrive by pleasing consumers

instead of politicians.

This reduces economic growth, harming consumers and workers.

It also incentivizes other businesses to seek government investment instead of developing

ways to better serve consumers.

Government investment in private companies means government control.

So the beneficiaries of government support will be forced to make decisions based on political considerations

rather than based on what will maximize profits.

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