Should the U.S. Government Own Shares of Private Companies?

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 27 August 2025

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In a highly unusual move, the Trump Administration announced the government will take a 10 percent equity stake in computer chipmaker Intel. The new arrangement makes the U.S. government the largest shareholder in Intel, a relationship many economists, policy experts and elected officials say is problematic, unnecessary and signals an overreach of presidential power. Earlier in August, fellow chipmakers Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices agreed to pay the United States 15 percent of their revenue from selling chips in China. We talk about what those deals mean, the administration’s strategy and why experts say this is a step toward fascism. Guests: Louise Matsakis, senior business editor, WIRED Tad DeHaven, policy analyst for federal and state economic and fiscal policy issues, Cato Institute - a think tank Nils Gilman, chief operating officer, executive vice president of programs and deputy editor of Noema Magazine, Berggruen Institute - a think tank Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:00.0	There's a lot going on right now. Mounting economic inequality, threats to democracy, environmental disaster, the sour stench of chaos in the air.
0:11.2	I'm Brooke Gladstone, host of WNYC's On the Media. Want to understand the reasons and the meanings of the narratives that led us here and maybe how to head them off at the
0:22.5	pass? That's on the media's specialty. Take a listen wherever you get your podcasts.
0:29.6	Support for this KQED podcast comes from California environmental voters, building the political
0:36.1	power to solve the affordability crisis by holding
0:39.5	oil companies accountable for creating the climate crisis. Learn more at envirevoters.org, paid for by
0:47.4	California environmental voters.
0:49.4	From KQED.
1:07.4	From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Alexis Madrigal.
1:12.4	As Donald Trump scrambled American politics with his takeover of the Republican Party, so his second administration is reorienting long-held beliefs among conservatives about our
1:19.2	country's economic system. Beliefs like, the American government should not take ownership,
1:24.3	stakes, and corporations because that would be socialist.
1:28.0	Well, the administration announced a plan to take a 10% stake in Intel and has signaled
1:31.7	the intent to do more deals like this, and Bernie Sanders has voiced his support for the
1:36.5	Intel deal.
1:37.5	We've got an expert panel to help us make sense of it all.
1:40.4	It's all coming up next, right after this news.
2:18.1	Welcome to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal. As China rose economically in the early 21st century, it was often described as having an economic system that was capitalism with Chinese characteristics, meaning there were markets and entrepreneurship and competition, but also the Chinese state and communist party played a heavy role in the functioning of the economy,
2:24.1	especially around powerful and important industries and companies. We're looking at the deals that Donald Trump's administration has cut with chipmakers, NVIDIA and Intel over the last month.
2:30.0	We're looking perhaps at socialism with MAGA characteristics.
2:34.5	With Invidia, the American government will be taking a cut of the company's profits from
2:38.9	selling chips to China.
	...

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