We at UP hate the idea of government taking an ownership stake in struggling private companies.  This smacks of industrial policy, and take a good look at Japan’s performance over the last 40 years to see what a rotten economic model that is.

The New York Times has done a pretty good job of estimating the federal government’s ownership stake in businesses under Trump.  Here’s their list of $10 billion in private assets so far:

Many of these companies are being “invested in” by Uncle Sam under the guise of advancing America’s national security. It’s a new twist on the military-industrial complex syndrome.

The Times notes that this “unusual new strategy… shows little sign of slowing.”  The assets include at least nine companies involved in making steel, minerals, nuclear energy and semiconductors.

The rationale for this “privatization in reverse” strategy is that if the taxpayer is going to bailout struggling companies, the government should take an equity share in its future profits.

We’ve got a much better idea: stop bailing out failed companies and throwing good money after bad.  Whenever the government gets in the game of picking winners and losers, it’s very good at picking losers.