State Enterprises in the USA

[Axtremus]

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/us/politics/trump-intel-steel-minerals-china.html

$10 Billion and Counting: Trump Administration Snaps Up Stakes in Private Firms
The Trump administration is trading billions of dollars of taxpayer money for ownership stakes in companies. The unusual practice shows no sign of slowing.

As a matter of public policy, low much do you like the idea of the U.S. government taking up stakes in American enterprises?

[Horace]

It's a reasonable signal to invest in those same companies. If they're listed.

[jon-nyc]

Trump's very own Solyndra.

I'm old enough to remember....

[Mik]

There's a case to be made for national security in these industries.

[Axtremus]

@Mik said in State Enterprises in the USA:

There's a case to be made for national security in these industries.

On national security … the U.S. government has no ownership stake in, say, Boeing or Northrop Grumman or General Dynamics or Lockheed Martin, not even during the Cold War. What, do you believe, warrants a change now?

[Mik]

Did I say anything warrants a change? What makes you think it doesn't warrant a change?

If you expect consistency out of Washington you haven't been paying attention.

[Axtremus]

Then what case concerning "national security" for state ownership of enterprises do you figure you can make now that you could not during the Cold War?

[Mik]

Do you really want to belabor the obvious or do you just want to keep throwing in red herrings like the Cold War? Jesus.

[Axtremus]

Don't know what you mean. What's the obvious?