The danger is not that Trump is failing to check the power of corporate America.

The danger is that Trump is empowering corporate America in order to capture that power for himself.

All that to say: we need to break out of the habit of framing econ and industrial policy as if the only variable were more/less government enforcement.

The "why" behind policy matters. The "who," as in "who-is-getting-more-powerful-from-this," matters.

Neoliberalism helped get us here, btw.

It's telling that corporate America has become so dependent on mergers to succeed, and so fixated on the profits they bring, that they will do *anything,* even bow down to a despot, to get them approved.

This is how Putin disciplined the Russian oligarchs.

If you're his friend, you can break all the laws you want — but the minute you step out of line, all your crimes are crimes again.

If everyone is granted an illegal monopoly...well, then anyone can be threatened to have it taken away

So, he and JD will rail against the power of Big Tech when those companies are seen as aligned with Dems, or when they kick him off their platforms.

But once they invite him back, rig algorithms right-wards, pay for his ballroom, etc. ... well, free pass.

For as long as they stay aligned, that is.

THIS IS NOT THE SAME AS WHAT TRUMP IS DOING.

Trump is not bringing us back to a world of non-enforcement of the law, however many mergers his admin lets through.

He is creating a world of selective enforcement. The full weight of the law if you're his enemy, and a free pass if you're his friend.

For decades, antitrust laws have gone unenforced.

The government, led by both parties, *chose* to permit unfair mergers and abuses of market power.

Because the goal of neoliberalism is "free" markets, i.e. no gov restriction of corporate actions. Because what is good for corporates trickles down

Antitrust can deny companies the mergers that could make them very very rich. Or ban unfair corporate actions. Or even break up the worst offenders.

Because antitrust makes these tactics illegal.

But it's the government's prerogative to decide whether to enforce the law, or not.

Antitrust is "one of the most important checks on excesses of corporate power," for sure.

But it is also, more broadly, one of the most powerful economic policies in the government's arsenal. Whether the government goal is to check excess corporate power...or not.

More than any other outcome — more than increasing jobs, or lowering inflation, or even ensuring any one company or industry succeeds — Trump's policy priority is to consolidate power around himself.

This is authoritarian industrial policy.

This didn’t happen overnight. Citizens United opened the floodgates to unlimited spending, and 15 years later, we’re living with the consequences—more polarization, less accountability, and policymaking tilted towards the ultra-rich.

Reform is still possible: rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...