Trump’s Formula to Conquer the Economy, the Colleges, and Everything Else

Step one: Create pain. Step two: Demand tribute. Step three: Repeat.

Is Donald Trump a staunch capitalist, a secret socialist, a blend of the two, or none of the above? Depending on the day, it’s hard to tell.

Some of his initiatives are pure Ronald Reagan, such as his corporate-income tax cuts and deregulation efforts targeted at oil and gas. Some of his interventions would impress a DSA chapter, such as demanding a public stake in Intel; requesting 15% of revenues from Nvidia chip sales to China; and securing a “golden share” of US Steel to retain veto power over its decision-making.¹ As for the rest of Trump’s economic policy, it is a hodgepodge of 19th-century mercantilism, developing-world authoritarianism, and extremely online weirdness. The US tariff rate stands near a 100-year high.² When Trump isn’t firing the statisticians who calculate unemployment, he’s waging war against the independent central bank, or posting about the fierce urgency of corporate logo design.

To put it simply, or at least as simply as one can: Trump’s economic agenda is deeply Reaganite and deeply anti-conservative; somewhat capitalist and frequently socialist; declaratively obsessed with American Greatness yet constantly sidetracked by online outrages that do nothing for the country.

So, what is Trumponomics? And what is it doing to America?