President Trump’s announcement of a deal securing a 10 percent stake for the federal government in Intel has sparked debate over the role of government in private enterprise. Framing the move as a savvy negotiation, Trump compared it to a real estate transaction in which restrictions are lifted in exchange for concessions. But critics see it differently: the government inserting itself as a shareholder and partner in a private corporation.
Economist Stephen Moore, author of The Trump Economic Miracle, told Chicago’s Morning Answer that the arrangement amounts to corporate welfare. “The government is the worst investment banker ever,” Moore argued, pointing to past failures like Solyndra, Fisker, and decades of costly education spending that yielded little improvement. He warned that once companies invite the government in as a partner, they open themselves up to political mandates on hiring, diversity quotas, and other non-market directives that undermine profitability.
Moore also criticized talk of creating a U.S. sovereign wealth fund, likening it to attempts by oil-rich nations such as Saudi Arabia. The difference, he noted, is that America runs a $37 trillion national debt, not a budget surplus. Borrowing billions more to speculate in private markets, he argued, would be reckless and would likely funnel money into politically favored but unprofitable industries.
Looking abroad, Moore highlighted economic lessons from postwar Germany and Japan, both of which boomed precisely because they lacked the resources to build expansive welfare states. By contrast, today both nations struggle under bloated government and stalled growth. Moore warned the U.S. risks repeating those mistakes if it pursues industrial policy over free-market principles.
While supportive of most of Trump’s economic agenda, Moore made clear this is one area where he parts ways with the former president. Policies that enshrine government as a business partner, he said, may start as targeted efforts in the name of national security but set dangerous precedents for future administrations eager to expand the state’s reach into the economy.