Making socialism great again?

US IS MOVING TOWARDS AN ECONOMY WHERE THE GOVT IS A PLAYER ON THE FIELD RATHER THAN A REFEREE

- ATANU BISWAS Professor of Statistics, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata

N ONE OF the most counterintuitive notions of today’s world, California Governor Gavin Newsom recently declared that “Trump is committing socialism” by having the federal government buy stock in private companies like Intel, US Steel, etc. Senator Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, certainly praised Donald Trump’s investment decisions. However, there is a significant conservative backlash against such steps of Trump, his version of US capitalism.

For instance, Georgia-based conservative radio host Erick Erickson referred to the equity stake idea as “terrible” and described it as “actual socialism happening by a Republican administration”. Numerous news stories and op-eds have also issued sombre warnings about the emergence of orange-hued Trumpian communism. Well, is Trump, who referred to Kamala Harris as “Comrade Kamala” during her campaign to combat grocery price gouging, truly Making Socialism Great Again?

Certainly, Trump is attempting to gain a majority on the Federal Reserve’s board of governors and contesting the institution’s independence. Hours after official data showed a dramatic slowdown in employment growth during his tenure, he also dismissed the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Honestly speaking, from the “STRUMP” crypto to the repulsive concept for a “Gaza Riviera” development, there is little doubt that Trump is a capitalist. His intimidation of American universities was undoubtedly motivated by his desire for administrators to adopt a more conservative stance in return for federal funding.