Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, who serves in the Clinton administration, warned that President Trump’s personal involvement in the U.S. economy would be his “fall” and would lead the country to a deadlock.
Reich recalled in a replacement post on Tuesday that the parties were divided over the size of the government and support for the Social Security Net program.
“It’s hard to find right or leave these days,” Reich wrote. “Instead, something we haven’t seen in the United States – individuals have taken over nearly all government agencies, and more and more of the private sector is acquired by possible dictators.”
Reich listed several examples of Trump’s “personal control over the U.S. economy,” including Trump’s efforts to influence the Fed’s committee; the administration’s 10% stake in Intel; and deals with NVIDIA and Advanced Micro Devices to enable companies to export licenses to sell AI chips to China in exchange for 15% of that revenue.
The White House did not respond to an instant request for comment.
Reich also noted that recent reports suggest Trump’s White House efforts to U.S. companies and trade associations to support Trump’s comprehensive policy legislation and potentially earn higher ratings groups.
“The increasing part of our economy is no longer dependent on supply and demand, but rather the Trump deal is shocking,” Reich wrote.
Reich, contrary to what Chinese President Xi Jinping has done in his country, “The new orders imposed on American industry are not from a wide range of authoritarian bureaucracies. It is personal and arbitrary. A so-called “strongman” is seeking to control everything.”
“I don’t know this appropriate term. State capitalism? Fascist capitalism?” he continued. “Whatever we call it, it will be Trump’s downfall, as his arbitrary and acquiescent decisions have made the private sector nervous about investing in the U.S. economy, leading to higher risks for global lenders demanding loans to the U.S. and pushing the economy to inflation and recession – so-called “stagnant.”
“If nothing disappoints him, his autocratic control of the economy will certainly be.”